Citadel Military Institute
by Azrael.N
Summary: School Fic. Shepard tries to get close to the psychotic biotic but will she let him get close. Mshep/Jack Fshep/Thane
1. Chapter 1

Nate POV

2189 Citadel January 11th 5:30a.m

It's a quiet morning in The Shepard's apartment, which is pretty rare given the fact that it is on the Silversun Strip, where there are always drunkards roaming the streets, shouting at the Avina VI asking stupid assed questions like where they live as well as how to get there or venting off their frustrations at the monotonous VI (which I get because that thing really gets on my nerves) in the early morning looking for somewhere warm to sleep off their hangovers or throw up. Or you are woken up by the lovely sound of some whore plying her trade in some grimy back alley, barking commands screaming out of pleasure as she reached her limits.

That would have actually been more preferable because I would just have to adjust the audio amplifier in the room to block sound out, but no this sound was 10X as annoying but it was also right next to my ear.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

"My God why the hell does the alarm always go off so damn early" I complained grabbing my pillow I forced it over my ear and let out a frustrated groan.

I got into the habit of waking up at 5:30 when I was 11 after my dad took me on a Kid Commando course; I loved it so much that I enrolled for that summer and every summer since and even on some weekends. We do things I never thought I could, I did weapons training, gravity and pressure simulations, extreme conditioning and more than I can remember this instance, but that's where I met my best friend Garrus Vakarian, he is the best damned sniper I have ever seen, I have never seen him miss a target.

If you are still enrolled in the program at 16 years old, that means you are committed and is basically like enrolling in the military, as a consequence you are automatically made a student at the Citadel Military Institute but to enrol you need to have either a brilliant tactical mind, off the charts physical stats or extreme intelligence, I'm strong on the physical conditioning and slightly weaker on the other.

To give us an edge all humans have some gene modification, minor things like controlling hormone production and release, I can release adrenaline into my system at will so I can go longer than

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

"Okay that's it" I focused and fired a small biotic burst and shattered the alarm clock and a smile crept on to my face only to be replaced by a scowl as I realised that I would be going to school today.

It took every ounce of willpower I possessed just to get out of bed and drag myself the shower only to see **HER** leaving her room.

Rylee POV

"Why can't that moron ever just respond to his alarm?" I groaned as I stretched my arms.

He probably soundproofed his room so nothing can get through, Jackass. I don't get why he doesn't just soundproof the whole room instead of the area around the window

I get why he blocks sound out, I cannot count the amount of times some Asari whore has woken me up with their damn screaming, they always scream "Embrace Eternity" when their climaxing, I can't hear either word without feeling disgusted.

Its, my first day at

As I left my room I looked out to see my older brother looking at me then to the shower door. We both ran as quickly as we could and reached the handle at the same time. What genius decides to build an apartment this large with only one shower?

"Let go I need to get ready for school, it's my first day and I'd rather not be late" I hissed

"Yeah me too, I need to meet Garrus at his place and I don't want him to wait" he countered

"Then ask him to come over here next time"

"Oh you'd like that wouldn't you then I could watch you fail at making a move on him" at that a faint blush stained my cheek.

"WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP SO THAT I CAN CATCH SOME SLEEP" a loud female voiced boomed through the house and we turned to see our Mom, her eyes had big, black, bags underneath them and her usually long straightened black hair was now pointing out at every direction, her nostrils flared, eyes widened, brows narrowed and we both realised we were staring pure anger in the eye and promptly shut up.

"Nathan, you go in first and you better be finished in 10 minutes" she ordered

"Why does he get to go in first" I argued

"Because you take your sweet time in the shower and anymore arguments for the rest of the morning will result in you both getting keelhauled" and that was the last word, since she stormed into her room.

Nate POV

After my shower I ate breakfast, I didn't really feel like cooking anything so I just had a bowl of cornflakes and a store bought chicken mayo sandwich, man even after all this time McDonalds is still open and that Chicken Mayo sandwich us still the best on the menu.

I put on my uniform which was different for each race because we each represent out species military, so for humans it is standard alliance attire and in winter we are allowed to wear jackets and hoodies. Opening my omni-tool I called Garrus

"Nate, you ready to go yet"

"Yeah Garrus, I'll meet you just in front of the Combat Arena"

"Hey Rylee, I'm going, you ready yet"

"I'm coming, just give me a second"

She ran down the stairs dressed the same as me but with an N7 Hoodie, her hair put into a pony tail with some loose strands covering her face she flashed me a crooked grin and said "Let's Go"

My sister wasn't originally meant to be part of the school before the summer even though she's smarter than me but it turns out she is a damn good Infiltrator.

Towards the end of my last spell at Commando Training, someone high up in the ladder decided to put me in one of the chalets for the summer (It was a reward for excellence) I started getting the feeling that I was being watched, but one of my roommates thought I was crazy, since he was an Infiltrator and the best one at the base he believed that no one could possibly plant a bug that he couldn't spot, but that arrogance cost him.

On the last day when my Mom and sister came to collect me, I told them about how I felt someone was watching me Rylee decided to take a look around. She found 10 audio transmitters hidden strategically around the chalet and 4 live stream visual feeds disguised as furniture. If you were an Infiltrator you were meant to find bugs like them and hand them in otherwise you fail and have to retake the course. So impressed was the Head of the facility Steven Hackett that he personally called the Institute and asked for her to be enrolled and she was ecstatic, but she's 15 turning 16 so she would be one of the youngest there.

Me and Rylee got off the lift and walked through the Silversun Strip. If you stripped off all the neon lights, and noise you could tell this place was actually a dump. Not as bad as Omega but at least when you go there what you see is what you get (In this Omega is part of the Citadel). Here all the grime and dirt is shined up or disguised by double talking conmen, artificial fresh air or you are bombarded/blinded by the bright lights to look down and see the homeless and duct-rats. Since the strip is on the border of Omega a lot of shady business goes on.

The more I think of it the more it reminds me of Lowtown in Dragon Age 2, this ancient game that came out almost 200 years ago. You see people begging for food and money, children starving, a cheap bar at the end serving swill in an attempt to pass it off ass beer.

"Nate over here" the scar faced Turian hollered; I turned to his direction and strolled over towards him

"Hey you ready for another year of hell" I joked

"Yeah and I have to drag your ass through the fire like always" it was then that Garrus had noticed Rylee, who was fidgeting and playing with her fingers.

"Rylee you ready to enter hell on Earth"

At this a shy smile cracked her face and she muttered something that sounded like "Yeah" at this the Turian blinked, bewildered at what he had said wrong

"Did I piss her off? I know some people find my sarcasm annoying" Garrus asked

"If you haven't figured it out by now you never will" Nate answered

"Can we go, I don't want to be late on my first day" Rylee interrupted.

"Get the fuck out of my way" I didn't even have time to react as a slim, lithe figure barged its way, when I took a good look at it I saw what appeared to be a bald man in a black body warmer with what would appear to be a Cerberus logo on it and I immediately knew he went to my school.

"Hey, apologize you can't just barge through people", I was pissed off and I'll be the first one to admit it I don't control my anger particularly well.

The bald man turned around. I was dumbstruck because in front of my wasn't a short bald man, but a petit bald woman, with pouty red lips that would drive any guy crazy. I actually checked her out and noticed she was covered in tattoos from head to toe, her body language like her eyebrows screamed fuck off, and her eyes were heavily lined with mascara and eyeliner, which I think was an attempt to hide just how tired this girl was. The entire time I stared at her I realised one thing. This girl is **Fucking Gorgeous. **

"I don't apologise jackass and if that upsets your royal ass then too bad you can just fuck off" she cursed getting on the Hyper Train

"She seems great, but her tattoos give me a headache" The sarcasm dripping from Garrus' voice earned him a scowl from Nate

"Let's forget it and get to school" Nate said in a dismissive tone, trying to get her out of his head.


	2. Chapter 2

Nate POV

When we arrived at the school it was already buzzing. Everyone seemed so damn chipper and happy to be back, or enthusiastic about starting a new year. It was sickening. These were the same people bitching and complaining about how hard it was last year and that they will never come back but always did.

I will be the first to admit this school looks **NICE. **It was a series of 5 buildings all looking new as if they were built yesterday, adorned with trees so that there is at least the idea that we get fresh air is put into our heads. Footpaths made out of 7 inch glass and framed by some sort of metal alloy. A prominent feature was a fountain, with a multitude of statues, one from each council race, a human, quarian, krogan, Turian, salarian and asari each standing proud.

When we reached reception to receive our timetables for the year we saw a few people we had never met before, the one at the front of the line was a quarian; to be honest to me they all look the same, I can't tell you who it is until I hear their voice, or they have custom suits. This one and high-tech, the hood had a black and grey Persian pattern, a pink face visor and a yellow, black and purple body design, this suit was distinct and easy to remember.

The girl behind her is human judging from her height and posture but it is hard to actually tell because she has a hood covering the majority of her face.

A drell, but he looked familiar, his face is emotionless but his body language suggested a cold confidence. He looked tired as though he had hardly slept, he was probably talking to someone or playing a game.

The next few were some familiar faces, Liara an asari whose biotic abilities are off the charts, she was as powerful as those 10 times her age, she's only 70 years old. She's a looker but she is awkward to talk to and every time I try to talk to her she starts babbling or says something like 'It's hard to take humanity seriously'.

Kelly and Samantha were with her talking animatedly, they were best friends had the same sort of dress sense. Kelly was hot! I won't lie I do enjoy flirting with her and she is fun to talk to, but she's too happy-go lucky and that is really annoying.

Samantha was like Liara only shy and awkward which was a bad combination, she couldn't speak to me or my friends except for Garrus and from what he picked up was that she was pretty cool but most of us didn't believe him but me. Regardless she was the butt of quite a few jokes and was clearly uncomfortable about it considering that she always looks sad when we were around Garrus defends her but it's a lost cause.

At the back was someone I knew I would see; the bald, girl with the loud mouth. She was impatiently tapping her foot on the ground and wore a scowl on her face, arms folded but it wasn't below her ribs it was high up her chest, it looked like she was making an attempt to conceal something maybe the Cerberus logo, I know I would.

"I actually thought there would be more people" Rylee commented looking around to see if there were any more people coming

"Nah it's cuz we're late everyone's probably going through orientation right now" I responded.

We joined the back of the line and patiently waited for the line to grow smaller. I learnt that the Quarian was called Tali Zorah, The hooded girl Kasumi Goto, and the drell Thane Krios.

"Name" the receptionist commanded in a completely disinterested tone.

"Jack" the bald girl replied. The receptionist made a hand gesture as though to urge her to say more

"I need a last name too"

I can literally see the vein popping out of her head; it is taking a lot of restraint to not laugh right now because when this girl explodes the look on the receptionists face will be freaking hilarious

"Fine then it's Nought as in zero, nothing, empty you happy now you ugly ass bitch" she yelled with her anger clear as day on her face. As for the receptionist I'm pretty sure she's scared but she's doing her best to look unaffected by the insult

"Um… O-Ok go t-to room 72 Dr Wilson" she was doing so well until the stutter.

Rylee POV

Wow that was… something

That girl has some serious problems, I mean no matter how bad a mood you are in you never have the right to yell at someone for just doing their job. When she stuttered it almost broke my heart, that girl Jack really must have gotten to her.

"That was hilarious" Nate whispered to me, I promptly punched him in the arm

"Ow… what was that for"

"Simple you're an asshole"

"So what is I am doesn't change the fact it was pretty funny"

"How would you feel if that was you in that ladies'position"

"I would have said something about her head or the fact that she looks like a punk wannabe"

"Um… just a thought but can we get our schedules and get to our form rooms" Garrus interrupted, he was obviously feeling uncomfortable at our argument. I proceeded towards the receptionist who had a vacant look.

"Miss, can we have our timetables please" I asked in as polite a manor as she could muster.

"What are your full names"

"Nathan Shepard"

"Rylee Shepard"

"Garrus Vakarian"

"Nathan and Garrus you're both in Room 23 Urdnot Wrex's room as for you Rylee you are in room 52 with Dr. Chakwas" she said never looking up from the screen.

"Excuse me but I don't know where my room is or any room for that matter" I asked cautiously, this women was either going to snap at me or break down crying, Jack must have hit a real sensitive spot.

"Come back at break time and I will have someone guide you for the next few weeks" she responded

"Nate can't you take me, I'd rather have you than some stranger" I almost begged

"No way, I have better things to do than drag you around school" man my brother is the biggest prick on in the damned verse; he knows if the roles were reversed I'd do it for him and he still won't help me.

"I'd be happy to escort you around Rylee" Garrus offered. I blushed a little at this. Maybe he's finally taking a hint after 6 years.

"Mr Vakarian and Shepard you have both been assigned someone to guide" the receptionist interrupted. Dammit how can she pick now of all times to get back her nerve?

"But we DIDN'T VOLUNTEER", Nate really needs to learn to control his anger before he gets into a fight.

"Neither did the other 2998 second years so your names were put into a random draw against new students" she stated and with that we were on our way. I'm just following them since they are taking me to my form.

"You're lucky Rylee. Dr Chakwas is a great form tutor and pretty easy to talk to" Garrus said, he flashed me a Turian grin which was really cute.

"That's good to know, at least I won't have some bitch" I said

"Well were here good luck Ry" Nate said before looking around, noticing there isn't anyone around he gives me a quick hug. No matter how big an ass he is I know he really does care. I entered my form.

The first thing I noticed was Dr Chakwas, she is tall, well at least taller than me. She looks like she's in her early 50s but I can only tell that by her hair her skin looks like that of someone in her late 30s.

"Sorry I'm late Miss but the line at reception was pretty long" I apologised half expecting her to yell at me.

"It's Okay Miss?" She replied

"Oh, um… Shepard, Rylee" I responded

"Shepard? Would Nathan be your brother by any chance" I gave a quick nod and a smile graced her face. This was unexpected from the reports I read I'm surprised any teacher actually likes teaching him.

"Take the empty seat around table 4"

When I looked towards table 4 and noticed that they could not all be my age.

Some were from the line at the office but some were new faces. They each introduced themselves to me

"Hi I'm Tali Zorah" the quarian said in a cheery tone

"Kaidan Alenko"

"Kelly Chambers"

"Samantha Traynor"

"Hey Ry" said Jacob, I already knew Jacob, he's one of Nate's close friends along with James, Garrus and Grunt

"I'm Rylee" They all seem pretty nice especially Kelly. I knew that these were people I could trust.

"So what courses do you take" asked Kaidan

"I doing Soldier and Infiltrator training, Biology and History" at this I got some strange looks. Nate told me that it was unusual to have a mix of physical and academic subjects.

I found out that Jacob takes also takes Soldier training along with biotics, PE and Weapons which is basically merc training, it teaches you about different weapons, strengths, weaknesses, how to mod them and how to use them.

Kaidan takes Soldier, Biotics, PE and History.

Tali takes Engineering, Weapons, PE and Biology.

Sam takes Computing, Engineering, Information Technology and History.

Kelly takes Psychology, Computing, History and Biology.

Nate POV

"We've got Wrex again, Garrus do you think he actually asks for us to be in his form" Nate asked looking at Garrus

"Probably the big Krogan bastard probably misses us when we're not around"

"Who else would he have to shoot at when we don't listen"

When we reached our form room we both took a deep breath and walked in. We saw a lot of old faces, looks like Wrex asked for the exact same form.

"Shepard, Garrus nice of you to join us" The giant Krogan asked

"Don't blame me it was all Nate's fault" Garrus said

"This little pyjack still can't wake up to an alarm", at this most of the class started laughing "Take a seat"

There are a few old faces here like Javik, Aria, James, Miranda, Liara, Grunt and more. I walked over to my usual table and sat.

"Loco late as always can't you just show up on time for once" James asked with a smirk on his face

"Nah if I did no one would believe it's me, they'd think a clone was taking over my life" I joked.

James is one of my best friends, he's easy to talk to, pretty funny and he has a hell of a lot more morals than me, he may make fun of people but he is normally the first to point out when someone doesn't deserve what they are getting.

"If I were the krogan I would strung you up a flagpole and had the entire class throw rocks at you" Javik said. He has always been so damn cheery and arrogant because he's Prothean. Liara found him and council team reactivated him a year ago, he sometimes bragging about how the Protheans beat some race of sapient space machines called Reapers after a cycle that lasted eons. He told the council that

"Aah Javik always the voice of reason and compassion" I responded sarcasm dripping off my voice

"Why are primitives always stupid, their flaws aren't stomped out but instead are compensated for?" The prothean complained, in spite of how smug he is I consider him a friend because he is quite an honourable person, and he is pretty funny.

"Come on Javik please can we not argue this early in the morning" Liara begged, holding her hand to her forehead.

"Debates are the foundation for a successful society Asari" Javik countered

"Yes but not at 8:30 in the morning" Liara responded.

The rest of form time was pretty uneventful, we caught up with each other.

My thoughts wondered to that girl Jack. She was pretty feisty and I find that sexy. She was skinny but not anorexic, I imagined what it would be like to feel her tanned skin on my body, what her smile would look like, what her tattoos meant and why she had so many. What those pouty red lips would fe-. Whoa, why am I thinking about her, and why can't she just get out of my head, I only met her once. I looked to the watch and it was 9:00, I just spent the past 20 minutes thinking about a girl who told me to fuck off. That's just pathetic.

Whereas Rylee is an infiltrator, I'm a vanguard. Not to brag but this means I am the perfect melding of a soldiers physique and training with biotics. This also means to maintain my physical prowess I have to take more subjects than others. I have to take Soldier training, Biotics, weapons and PE.

I also take advanced biotics. This is only available to those with the highest biotic readings in the whole Institute so there are only a few people in the class, last year there was only me, Liara, Aria, Miranda, Javik, Morinth and Kai Leng. It is intense, we have to with stand simulated heavy weapons fire, controlled biotic bursts, we get our amps pushed to its limits and even how to use moves as safely as possible once our amps get worn out, if you do it wrong it shorts out and we can enter a coma.

Garrus takes Weapons, Infiltrator, PE and Soldier training.

James Takes weapons, soldier and PE

Javik takes history, advanced biotics, biotics and soldier training.

Liara does History, Advanced Biotics, Biology and Computing

Grunt does weapons, PE and Soldier Training.

Miranda takes History, Advanced Biotics, Biology, Psychology and PE.

Miranda is a complicated person even though the rest of the school thought of her as a cold hearted bitch I knew that Miri was actually a good person but because of her perfectionist nature and lack of tolerance for mistakes she has developed a reputation for being unapproachable. She told me there are only two people she considers friends, me and Jacob.

Grunt is one of my two favourite Krogan in the freaking verse. He is taller than me but he shows me a level of respect he shows few people including Garrus, Wrex and Kaidan. Given that he stays with Wrex that's understandable. As for me, Garrus and Miranda we helped him out, Uvenk this smug Krogan bastard is jealous of Grunts strength due to being a Tankbread and picked on him for it. Grunt didn't respond because he didn't think Uvenk was worth his time which I honestly believed even though Uvenk is a pretty big krogan, but we got sick of it and stood up to him. He backed down and since he refers to me as his battlemaster.

"Shepard I just received a message you are to report to Andersons office along with Vakarian" Wrex bellowed, with a sigh I got up and made my way to the Principals Office.

"Maybe Anderson is giving me medal for being the best sniper in the galaxy" at this Garrus turned to look at me as if I had two heads.

"Are you on red sand Nate you couldn't possibly think that you are as good as me"

"Garrus I am twice as good as you 1 hand tied behind my back"

"Blasphemy!" the Turian yelled, I burst into a fit of laughter, that was one of the funniest things I had ever heard in my life.

"I'm only telling the truth" I teased

"It's okay Shepard we can get you help, we'll check you into Rehab and we'll kick this red sand addiction" Garrus said with a straight face, tapping my back in a reassuring manor, this only made me laugh harder.

I walked into Anderson's office with tears in my eyes from laughter but any joy I had was immediately evacuated when I saw the very same bald girl, an unwelcome guest in my mind who refused to leave, along with Rylee, the drell, Jacob, the hooded girl and the Quarian Tali.

"As you know there are few admissions at the start of the year there are only a handful of students with the potential to make it here, new students will require a guide for the first few weeks" Anderson started

"Because of this this four of you have been assigned a new student". The four of us but there are only 3 students from last year.

"Vakarian you have been assigned Tali Zorah vas Neema" at this Tali waved at Garrus

"Hi Tali you can follow me" Garrus instructed with a grin on his face

"Taylor you have Kasumi Goto" Anderson said, Jacob was looking around the room trying to find her when a hand touched his back, out of reflex Jacob grabbed her hand and twisted it behind her back.

"Ow, Ow, Ow I think you broke my wrist" Kasumi groaned holding her wrist looking down. Wide eyed and filled with regret Jacob took her hand to examine it. Kasumi looked up and a blushed stained her cheeks and I could tell that she liked what she saw.

"I am so sorry, but you shouldn't have snuck up behind me like that" Jacob defended

"I guess your first trip is to Dr Michels room" Anderson guessed, and they left the room.

"Krios you are to take Rylee Shepard" Anderson commanded

"Hello Miss Shepard my name is Thane please follow me" the drell said in a deep voice, he breathed out his words, making it clear as to what he was saying, I looked to Rylee and she looked stunned for a second and a smile was tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Ry" I shouted, this seemed to snap her out of her trance

"Oh, I'm sorry I guess I zoned out a little" she replied and followed the drell out of the room

"And Miss Jacqueline, you will follow Nate Shepard, Rylees brother" Anderson orded and turned to leave.

We were both alone for a few minutes in uncomfortable silence.

"You're the little shit that bitched at me a the Hyper train" she spat

"And you the little bitch that has never heard of the word sorry" I replied

"Yeah, Yeah that's nice just take me to my class and leave me alone."

"As much as I enjoy the company of a foul mouthed psycho, I would rather not spnd more time with you than need be." I retorted

"I have advanced biotics now." She informed me. When she said this I chuckled a bit at the irony of the situation we both want to get away from each other but we have the same class.

"What's so funny?"

"Unfortunately for the both of us I have advanced biotics now too" I told her but instead of a complaint I got a blank expression.

God must be playing a sick Joke on me.


	3. Chapter 3

Nate POV

We walked in an uncomfortable silence to the Biotics wing, it is mainly filled with asari since they normally have the most potential. Jack's eyes didn't wander except for the Cerberus logo we walked past, when we did a slight growl came out of her lips, and she gripped at the logo on her chest. Clearly someone doesn't like her sponsor.

We reached our class and walked in and saw the people I expected, Liara, Aria, Miranda, Javik, Morinth and Kai Leng. The teacher Samara was in meditation, levitating in mid-air, eyes closed. She opened them and they went wide for a moment.

"Sorry we're late Samara" I apologised "I'm her guide for the next few weeks" I continued, I took a look at Jack who was glaring at Miranda one which she returned. Then it hit me, I should have asked Miranda about Jack since they are both sponsored by Cerberus, but from what I can tell right now anything Miri would have told me wouldn't have put Jack in the best light.

"No need to apologize Nathan, please line up at the back as should you young one" Samara said, sometimes her cold confidence and relaxed nature scared the shit out of me considering that if she got angry no one in this room would survive except maybe Aria.

I went to stand next to Miranda while Jack went to stand near Aria, which is a surprise because everyone knows that Aria is bad news, not someone I would want to mess with. She runs Omega despite her young age, she's only 76. Her biotic abilities are better than mine by a bit, but the moves she knows would end a fight before I could react, especially that flare move.

They were actually talking to each other, which was a shock since Aria didn't really talk to a lot of people, not because she was anti-social, just paranoid. I would be too if C-sec was breathing down my neck, this girl Jack must be either a close friend or a member of her gang.

"Today we will be working Heavy weapons fire and dealing with a group of Hostiles" Samara announced "However there will also be civilians, keep them out of harm's way if possible" she finished turning around to switching the combat-sim on. This was one of the many resources available at the institute.

We chose our weapons from the weapons rack and put on our armour of choice. In these types of situations it was good to travel in pairs or more so I chose Miranda since we had an understanding. Javik with Liara, Kai Leng with Morinth and Aria with Jack. Aria and Jack were the only ones that didn't bother putting any armour apart from the holsters, which was a shock considering we were dealing with heavy weapons fire.

I loaded up my M-23 Katana as well as the M6 Carnifex hand cannon and did some stretches whilst Miranda holstered her shuriken and Stiletto VII. Just to be on the safe side I also took an M-100 Grenade launcher if worst came to wear.

The Combat simulator came on and everything became so clear. It was a mountainous setting, with a metal stair case that went up about 15 feet, there was also a giant path down the middle branching out from the staircase which would give me a clear shot at just about part of the area but since its metal and I'm wearing thick combat boots, my footsteps would be heard alerting the enemy. And that was designed for an Infiltrator not a vanguard, at least not until my sniping skills improve.

"BEGIN" Samara yelled from the control room.

We all found cover of some sort, Miranda covered my six. The simulator conjured up a group of about 25 mercs each equipped with top grade weapons and they landed in front of us. I unholstered my hand gun and fired at the merc at the front, I managed to get a head shot but that was when the rest of the group decided to open fire, I quickly ducked under the metal shield.

"OK Miranda, I'm giving you the RPG" I started, "Now I'm gonna raise my shields, and fire 2 Shockwaves with luck that should take a few out, but afterwards fire 1 shot. That should take out the majority and the rest we can handle" I explained being as clear as possible, we won't actually die from this but it will hurt like hell.

"NOW"

I used Barrier and prepared myself mentally for what I was about to do. I raised my head only to have a sniper pierce my barrier leaving my shield strength at about 22%, this was the kick up the ass I needed to fire the first shockwave, it ended up killing 4 mercs and disorienting quite a few, I fired my second one but it didn't have much effect, the rest must have shields.

"MIRANDA FIRE"

And on command she fired her shot, it made a huge bang and bodies were flying everywhere, there was a relatively small explosion since this model was built more for accuracy and penetration than for power and destruction.

When the dust cleared all hostiles were on their asses either dead or recovering, while they were getting their footing back I took the opportunity to fire a few shots at them, got one of them right in the balls, if they were programmed for emotion then he would be in tears, I said a silent apology, because few people deserve that.

"Nate behind us more hostiles and to your right" Miranda yelled.

Dammit I still haven't dealt with all these jokers yet. This was really bad, my shield strength is only at 27% and I can't deal with all these mercs on my own, I decided that since the ones in front of me were recovering I should take on the ones nearest to me, but when I turned to my right, a small purple ball whizzed past my face and hit the group about to take me out. A brilliant purple explosion occurred, more eye catching than the lights on the Silversun Strip.

I turned to the Origin of the flare and saw Aria with her usual smirk, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Come on Shepard I thought that you were a combat expert" the biotic boss chuckled

"I knew it he's a pussy can't even handle a few pathetic mercs" Jack said making her presence known

I noticed that some enemies materialised behind them. I tapped into the primal parts of my brain and mustered a biotic charge, in the blink of an eye I was behind Jack and Aria. The impact made a muffled boom, disorienting those I hit. To be sure that no one could react, I focused my energy on my fist and leapt into the air, with all the power I could summon I pounded the ground causing a shockwave confusing the entire group. I reach over my back and took out my shotgun, killing every merc in sight. When I was finished I turned around and flashed a cocky grin.

"Now we're even" I said walking past the both of them Aria was laughing but Jack once again had a blank emotionless mask.

"Hello dead people" I heard Jack say from behind and I turned to see her charging at a group firing her shotgun, she was laughing, I should have found it disturbing that she was taking pleasure from dealing out death but I was strangely turned on by it.

"Nate I took care of the rest of the hostiles" an Australian accent flew through the air. I knew Miranda could take care of herself.

"More Hostiles" Miranda sighed. This time they were a far distance from us so we could see them coming but 2 of them have RPGs. "Miranda Get Down" we both ducked behind two rocks. Once we were out of the way a storm of bullets flew past us and was hitting the rock slowly wearing it down.

"We don't have much time" She pointed out

"I know I've only got a few pistol rounds but shitload of shotgun slugs" I informed her

"Shepard I need you to listen to me" she was breathing heavy, I shouldn't have left her to deal with 2 squads of mercs, the sweat was dripping off of her face, there was blood coming from her forehead and her hair was slightly ruffled.

"I'm going to fire off a warp, this should leave a mass effect field lingering" she breathed out, "right after that use your biotic charge, this should make the field explode taking out most of them then use your shotgun for clean-up whilst I pick some off with my remaining rounds" she finished this time her eyes glazed over a bit, they must have done more damage than I thought. I simply nodded and braced myself.

To take some of the pressure off I fired a few shots so that they're focus would shift to me, then Miranda fired a warp off and some the enemies fell to the ground, I focused on the one at the epicentre and charged, the explosion was huge, burning quite a few of the mercs and true to her word Miranda was supporting me but my Katana did the rest. I found it pretty funny how when I shoot someone with the shotgun they go flying through the air with the greatest of ease, and bodies were everywhere.

After I was finished I ran back to Miranda and applied some Medi-Gel to her forehead to stop the bleeding.

"Thanks" she said in relief. I checked my vital signs and armour status

"WHAT… my shields are almost at 40% and I have no more rounds for my shotgun" I complained

"We have to muscle on Shepard"

"OK before they see us we need to salvage some thermal clips from these dead mercs" I ordered

Just when things couldn't get much worse I discovered that most of the rounds were meant for assault rifles and snipers, only a couple had pistol rounds. As Miranda was exploring she looked over the ledge and her eyes widened "Nate we have a Major problem". I saw that there was one more hostile but this one was different, his armour looked even more advanced than those we fought before. He turned to see us and prepared himself

"HE'S GOT A ROCKET LAUNCHER AND IT'S HUGE" I bellowed and dived for cover just in time since the rocket flew right over our heads.

"Dammit I can't hear" I shouted, the ringing was agonising and constant. I wanted to rip I ears off. But slowly the ringing died down.

"Shepard this is part of the test" Miranda explained. "It's probably to make us use our biotics, Samara must have sent just enough waves for us to use up our ammo and chose weapons we wouldn't normally choose"

"OK, we need biotics, my amp has almost shorted out" I said

"Same here"

"For now we st-" I stopped myself when I noticed a M-92 Mantis on the ground and pounced.

"Miranda, I need you to distract him while I get a shot lined up" after a deep breath she stuck her head out and started firing, I steadied my shot and waited. Even though I teased Garrus earlier I know that I am not that much of a sniper, I mainly handle, hand pistols and shotguns.

I have the shot ready but just too late, he fires his rocket and it impacts against Miranda, she then starts to de-materialise, it was only after he fired that I pulled the trigger killing him.

DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT, if this wasn't a simulation Miranda would be dead because I hesitated, that can never happen again.

I have no ammo, I'm still cooling down and my shields are dead, any sort of sneak attack would kill me and on cue a group show up right in front of me, I made my way to jump over the barricade but one of the mercs shot my leg. Then the rest took out their Rocket Launchers and aim, I'm about to die.

A thick blue ball floats just in front of the gang of hostiles and they begin to swirl around it. It was a singularity, I would recognize it anywhere. I look around because I know it's either Morinth or Aria but instead it's Jack. I have never seen a human that can pull off singularity simply because it requires a lot of power and emotional control.

"Combat Simulation Complete" EDI said.

I stood up to see everyone writhing in pain, holding their guts, skulls and chests. I wasn't doing that great myself but a lot better than Miranda. She was just on the floor squirming uncomfortably. A pang of guilt struck me as I realised that it was my fault that she was in this state.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA" Jack was laughing her ass off pointing at Miranda

"The cheerleader bitch really does go down like an asari whore, HAHAHAAHAHA"

"She's hurt Jack can't you see that or are you just that big of a bitch" I defended Miranda, it was my fault she had to endure this teasing but I would be damned if I didn't defend her.

"So what so is everyone else but at least they can take the pain"

"She got blown to bits"

"EVEN FUNNIER" her laugh got even louder, it was so annoying and loud I just wanted to do anything to shut her up

"That's enough" Samara commanded

"Morinth take Miss Lawson to the nurse's office" the teacher said "Jack, Nathan stay behind the rest you can head off to break" she finished.

Rylee POV

We are walking in silence, but it isn't awkward, I felt comfortable following him but that isn't normal for me. I'm usually a leader, I never follow anyone's lead but those instructing me, yet he was making me like it.

"Where are you taking me?" I questioned

"We are heading towards the Combat Block, we both have Infiltrator training"

"You're an Infiltrator too"

"No, not everyone that takes the course is an infiltrator" he started "I am an Assassin"

"An assassin?" I was genuinely surprised, I never knew that it was available as a course. "I never saw that on the curriculum" I asked

"That's because it isn't" he said it as if it was obvious, making me feel a bit stupid

"It's a combination of subjects, like being a Vanguard or an Adept" he explained.

"OK so you want to be a mercenary" I accused. To me assassins are just mercenaries with more skill and less bravado, you are only as faithful as your next pay check, and you kill anyone so long as the price is right. They are the source of the problems in Omega and C-Sec doesn't seem to care, they put a few officers there but not enough to make a difference makes me wonder just what the Council is thinking.

"No I am doing it for personal reasons" he responded and there was an air of sadness in his voice, I could tell I hit a soft spot.

"Thane I'm s-"

"We're here" he interrupted in an annoyed tone. Great now my guide hates me. We opened the door and my teacher was something I never expected. A geth

"Krios, Thane and Shepard, Rylee Principal Anderson informed me of your meeting" the geth said in a monotonous tone. "Today we will practice deception and evasive manoeuvres in precisely 10 minutes" and with this the Geth went to stand at the window.

I noticed Garrus standing by the weapons rack looking at the different kinds of equipment we would need for this exercise. I walked up behind him and tapped his back.

"Hey Ry" He said completely immersed by the weapons rack. What did it have that I don't, maybe I have to strap myself with every damn weapon the galaxy to get him to actually look at me. I decided to go to the armour panel and picked out the normal N7 armour, then joined Garrus.

"Any Idea what we'll be doing?" I asked

"We will likely have to survive for the next 2 hours and a bit so I need just the right gun to pull it off" he said, he never even looked at me, all he did was feel the guns, testing the weight and manoeuvrability. Maybe that's it he doesn't like girls but weapons.

"Ah that's the one" he said holding an M-97 Viper, he actually held it to his cheek, as if it were a pet, while most would find this weird I just found it adorable.

"Can I go with you until I get a grasp on what to do?" I asked half expecting him to say no.

"Of Course, otherwise who else will stand in awe of me" he bragged, I giggled seductively.

"I don't need to see you in action to stand in awe of you" I flirted. Come on for the love of god garrus take a hint, it's like banging my head against a Krogan.

He chuckled nervously, I was clearly making him uncomfortable, but it was cute watching him fidget and squirm.

"Am I making you uneasy Garrus?" I walked up to him, pressing my finger against his chest plate. I looked him deep in the eyes, I am almost sure my pupils dilated, looking up to the 6ft 5 Turian compared to my 5ft 7 frame.

"3 Minutes Remaining" Legion warned

"3 minutes better finish preparing" this was the opportunity he awaited and took it as he picked up weapons rounds and customized them.

Damn that Geth, couldn't he wait like another minute before opening its mouth. Well figuratively speaking. I took this opportunity to finish up. I carried cryo rounds, a Locust and an Arc Pistol some grenades and an omni-blade.

I looked around the room to see who I would be working with get a general feel of the class. Garrus was looking at just about anything but me. There was this bald guy, looked pretty shifty, weasel like, he is in my form I think his name was Hokin, Larkin, wait… Harkin that's it.

I also saw another Turian but he looked nothing like Garrus, I could almost sense an evil aura emanating from him. He towered over the rest of the class, probably about 7ft, his face was silver but parts looked melted off and he was giving a murderous glare towards Garrus. When the latter noticed he returned it, his mandibles started clenching and he wore a look of total hatred. I don't once recall Garrus hating anyone, he is the most likeable guy you can meet and he liked everyone but the look he gave his fellow Turian and his body language indicated there was a lot of bad blood between these two.

I then looked at Thane, he was a picture of serenity, he was as relaxed as you can get. He looked to be praying and his lips were moving so it was out loud. When he finished he opened his big black eyes and started saying something I was too far away to hear it but I made out the last words he mouthed. I think it was "I Love You" or "Elephant", but I was leaning to the first.

"5-4-3-2-1-Begin"

What materialised was something I never expected, it was a genuine shithole. There were slums dimly lit, reeked of vomit and piss, there were fires allowing for more visibility. Buildings were almost collapsed and water was falling down the sewage drain, the only good point was that the fires provided a comforting warmth otherwise this was a total shithole. I looked to the right and I realised where I was. This is Omega. I noticed that Afterlife in all its glory, stood tall but the place was empty not a soul around.

"Hey follow me I know the perfect spot" Garrus said motioning me to follow. How does he know so much about this place? We normally don't go into Omega unless we want to go to Afterlife.

We ran for about ten minutes until we were at a bridge, there was only one way in and out making this the perfect spot. And in the building above there was only a small window of sight making it an even better base.

"I'll plant a few charges in case some get through" I said as he ran up the stairs

"Hostiles" He announced. I took out my arc pistol and charged it, since Garrus was the sniper, I would be on the ground. The first wave came in force, I fired one instantly killing the first victim, and I continued firing killing another with every shot whilst Garrus picked off the strays.

"Rylee their coming through the doors downstairs" He yelled, I ran as fast as I could around the proxy mines to see that they were already being taken down. Another wave was coming from the front so Garrus already had his hands full. Shots were being fired and they didn't have time to react. It was Thane. His movements were so fast and fluid that I could have sworn he was part machine.

He then did what I never thought anyone would be crazy enough to do, he started taking them on hand to hand, and it was like watching Batman. I have been to the best martial arts and self-defence classes in the galaxy and even the Master wasn't this good, not a single merc laid a finger on him, he was a ghost, untouchable, intangible.

I was about to compliment him on a job well done when the proxy mines went off meaning there were some mercs that Garrus couldn't get in time. I spun myself and saw that there were more coming, I tried to fire but my pistols had run out of ammo.

"Garrus I'm out of Ammo" I shouted

"Here take this" he threw an M-15 Vindicator. With Thane's help we managed to survive the rest of the wave, but I was tired.

"Thanks for the help" I said to Thane

"No need" he replied

"You're a life saver Thane if it wasn't for you I don't know if we'd still be here" Garrus chimed in

"EXERCISE COMPLETE" Legion announced

We all appeared in the classroom, only a few unharmed including me, Garrus, Thane and that Turian making evils at Garrus.

"This platform requires time to reach consensus on class performance until then you are all dismissed".  
_

Nate POV

Samara scares the crap outta me, she sounds so damn calm all the time while giving off the vibe that she'll kill us if we don't stop bickering.

This school has a rule that you can only have one practical subject a day otherwise I would be screwed, everywhere hurts, but I can still walk which is still a win.

I need to go to the nurse's office to see Miranda, after what I did and didn't do I think that's the least I owe her. I got too reckless and my pride made me act in a stupid manner, Aria and Jack had shields that could have survived that but I had to prove to them I wasn't helpless. I didn't give a shit about what Aria said but when Jack called me a pussy I couldn't let that stand. Why did I care so much what she thought?

I reached the nurses office to see Jacob and the girls whose hand he broke and they were actually laughing, I'm pretty sure that if someone broke my hand I would kick their ass.

"Jacob" I called

"Hey Nate, how's it goin'" he asked nonchalantly

"AB is going to kill me" I complained

"Hang in there" he chuckled, "I saw Miranda being lifted in by Morinth. What happened?" he questioned. I looked away out of shame and my features hardened "Oh… um better let you get to it" he said in an understanding tone.

I looked into the part where Miranda was, she was sitting up looking into space, she sensed I was there and turned to look at me in surprise.

"Miranda err… apologising isn't really one of my strong points" I began, I must have sounded like a total ass. "But I'm…So-rry" I apologised really awkwardly. I'm not what most people would describe as the nicest guy in the world. I don't apologise or say please unless it's sarcastic. "Wait I can do better…. Um, I was really stu…. I am a moro… dammit, those are so cliché" She burst into a laughing fit probably because of what an idiot I must sound like,

"Nate if it were anyone else I would have shot you when you abandoned me to show off" she said, I cringed at the mention of the word abandoned, "But you have earned enough points with me that I don't bear any grudge"

"So I lost points"

"A load of them" she teased

"How do I get them back?"

"Buy my lunch for the next week"

"That's extortion"

"That's what it takes Nathan take it or leave it"

"Fine, but only because you're in a hospital bed"

We talked for the next couple minutes about how difficult the exercise was and joked about how if it had been reality we would both be fucked. When I said something without realising what was coming out of my mouth.

"What do you know about Jack?"

"I don't think I would offer the most unbiased opinion Nate" she replied honestly but she scowled deeply at the mention of Jack "Why do you want to know?"

"I don't know, it just came out" I defended

"What do you mean just came out" she snapped

"Whoa, relax why are you so angry"

"If it 'just came out' then you have a subconscious interest in her" she accused, her scowl deepening, why is she so upset?

"I am not interested in Jack, though I'm pretty sure I could get her if I wanted" Miranda's eyes widened when I said that, but she was looking past me.

"You couldn't handle me on your best day" I turned slowly to see Jack leaning against the wall

"I could take you when I want" I stated matter of factly

"I don't give a shit about your delusions shitface, I-"

"Why are you here, I doubt it's to apologize" Miranda interrupted

"I wouldn't apologise to you for all the credits in the world" Jack said. "But this asshole is my guide and I don't know my way around yet" she explained.

"It's lunch Jack, why didn't you follow Aria" I asked

"Me and the Asari bitch ain't friends dumbass"

"Alright see ya later Miri" I waved goodbye to Miranda but she was too busy giving Jack a death glare.

"Do you have a packed lunch or do you have to go to the canteen" I asked

"I don't trust cooks take me somewhere quiet to eat my lunch. And no you can't eat with my jackass"

"You know I have a name"

"Yeah Nathan but that's too long"

"Then call me Nate" I said grinding my teeth, man if this bitch was a guy I would have dropped her at the train station.

We spent the rest of the walk in silence. It was pretty tough trying to find a spot with quiet considering that this school had roughly 7000 students from around the galaxy and classrooms were off limits during lunch so there weren't any spots for isolation so I had to find the least populated area. I found this big ass tree where there were only a few people.

"Wait for me to come meet you here so we can get to your next class" I ordered and for my tone I got flipped off a gesture I gladly returned as I walked away.  
_

Jack POV

What is with that Nate guy. Trying to boss me around like he's my superior giving me instructions, I get enough of that at Cerberus.

I have been at this school a sum total of 3 hours 20 minutes and I already hate it, the cheerleader is in my advanced biotics class, so I don't just get to deal with her at the damned facility but now at school. Just fucking perfect, that combined with my schedule, who was the genius that chose my courses Advanced Biotics, Biotics, Weapons, psychology, why do I need to understand how peoples mind works, if they start acting shifty kill em, probably means they're about to screw you over anyway, Advanced biotics is pretty fun, getting encouraged to kill is always a bonus but everything else blows. I wish. I wish I could just take… No I can't even think it; no one would ever take me seriously. A shadow towered over me and was covering the artificial sun.

"Hey buddy move over you're blocking the light"

"Apologies I did not mean to cause you trouble" he replied

I decided to look up and I saw something freaky, it was the scaly, reptilian guy. I know that his race has a name but I couldn't quite remember.

"May I sit beside you Miss" he requested, why was he acting weird, asking for stuff instead of taking it, using words like may or apologies, what the hell does this guy want.

"My name is Thane" he said

"Jack" I replied, what is he doing, I scanned the area in he was up to something.

He proceeded to eat his lunch which looked like a bunch of sandwiches, fruits and water. This guy must be a biotic given the fact that he's not all that muscular and the amount of food he's eating, he's got bags under his eyes and his face has some wear to it, he must be stressed out by something in his life. I may not look it or act it but I am pretty perceptive. Looking at his food made me pretty hungry since my stomach started grumbling.

"Would you like to have some" he offered, what is up with this guy.

"Fuck Off"

"I merely wish to share my food with you, I have no ulterior motives" this guy is pretty good, I almost believe what he's saying. He's guiding some chick so he's been here for a while, that Anderson guy trusts him and he's already taken a bite so they probably aren't poison. So I snatched a couple sandwiches off of him but he didn't seem shocked or angry. I sniffed them to see if there was anything funny about them, and then took a cautious bite. I waited a few minutes to see if anything would happen, when I was content with how I felt I decided to continue eating

"Hey" I said, he turned his head away from his food and his black eyes looked at me

"Thanks, I owe you one" it was barely audible even to myself.

"It's alright Jack" he said giving me a warm smile.

I asked him a few question, I found out that he is a drell and takes Biotics, Biology, Infiltrator training and psychology. So we both take psychology and biotics. At least that makes the sum total of people I don't want to kill 1.


	4. Chapter 4

Two weeks later

Nate POV

The first few weeks have been pretty tough. The amount of work I have to put in is off the freaking charts. Zaeeds a damn taskmaster with this fucking weapons class. Whose brilliant idea was it to hire a mercenary to teach? Right now he's telling us some of his old stories. Even though he tends to digress Mr Massani is good teacher, don't get me wrong he is a terrible person, but he knows his stuff, he knows how to use every weapon this school has access to, he even brings in some. Let's just say not entirely legal toys for us to learn to use. He's got a soft spot for people who love big explosions and violence as well as those with questionable moral values but not evil.

"So this big Krogan bastards got me in a corner, since the buggers a biotic short range combat ain't an option, so I toss a flash bang and find somewhere to hide and think of how to get away" he is really enthralled in his own story.

"Then it hits me, go for the quads, so I try and sneak up behind him, but their fucking sense of smell made that impossible too, leaving me with one option. I threw an inferno grenade to try and wear away his shield, and then let Jessie have a go at killing the mug", this guy has been through a lot, and he seems to have a new story every week.

"It sounded good in theory but that shitty old rifle did nothing but tickle him" James started laughing, whilst Grunt had a big ass Krogan grin on his face.

I turn my head to see that Jack has fallen asleep. Another lovely revelation a few weeks ago was that she is in my weapons class along with Jacob, that new quarian Tali, Garrus, James and Grunt so this class could actually be entertaining.

"The krogan wanker decided now would be the best time to walk up to me" he starts to smile "He taps me on the back and starts laughing calling me a funny human"

"That krogan brings shame to our entire race, not even having the decency to finish off his opponent" Grunt complained, his face was a melding of confusion and anger.

"You know restraint is sometimes necessary Grunt" Garrus interrupted with a look of disappointment

"Los grandes hijo de puta can't control his instincts" James laughed

"You don't understand what it's like to be Krogan so stay out" Grunt was getting genuinely angry.

"HEY GRUNT" Zaeed yelled, Grunt turned his head, teeth showing and death in his eyes

"You know who that Krogan was who let me go" Zaeed started, Grunt shook his head

"It was Wrex, because of what I did he respected me since there weren't many humans capable of what I did", Zaeed said with a stern look, he clearly wasn't looking to take any of what Grunt was dishing out.

"There are only two other humans Wrex has had any more respect for and one has been dead for 11 years" man this tough old warrior was speaking with a passion I had never heard before, and a rage unrivalled.

"So shut your trap and pay attention, you are far from being as tough as Wrex so you aren't in any position to say shit" he bellowed, but to my amazement Jack was still sleeping through all this, she would probably be on her ass laughing.

I took a look at the girl sitting next to me and not for the first time I took in her appearance, high cheek bones, full red pouty lips, pale complexion, chocolate brown eyes that you could lose yourself forev-… What the hell, why am I thinking this way about this bitch. I need to focus on her bad points.…. ….. ….. Are you shitting me, I can't even think of one bad physical trait about her, her tattoos are hot as all hell, she has the face of a goddess, her feisty attitude only turns me on but I can tell by looking at her she's not perfect so why is my brain not zeroing in on her imperfections.

Wait her thinness. Good focus on that. She is pretty much skin and bones, but her stomach is toned just right not too muscular, I just want to hold… Oh crap it's happening again. As I survey the sleeping woman in front of me I notice a nasty red scar on her neck, I look closer and notice it's not the only one, there are a stream of them, some look fresh some old, what the hell does she do.

"Pervin' over the hot chick loco" James teased, I look up to see him smirking at me.

"No way Vega" I lied

"Not from where I'm sitting Nate, looked kind of creepy like a stalker" he keeps on teasing

I lift a book from his table with my biotics and throw it at the back of his head. He turns around to see where it came from and that gave me a slight break. I got caught checking her out and knowing James he would have told Garrus and that wouldn't be funny.

Man the lesson is almost over and Jack has been out of it for that past 25 minutes, I should probably wake her up so we can get to Biotics. I give her a slight nudge "Wake up, the lessons almost over" I whispered to her, but it's either she's ignoring me or can't get up. I continue to nudge her but to no response, I know Zaeeds stories aren't always what you want to hear but falling into a deep sleep is a bit extreme. What the hell is up with this girl is she… Oh crap. I look to her chest to see if it's still moving up and down. It isn't. Shit, shit, shit, shit.

"Jack wake up" I start shaking her violently to no response, Garrus turned around and gave me a surprised look.

"What's with all the fuss" he asks calmly but noticing the look of urgency in my eyes he gets up.

"She's not breathing" I inform him. He got up from his seat and rushed over, to see if we could both try and wake her up. He looks up at me

"Shepard take her to Dr Chakwas room its closer than Dr Michel's" he ordered.

"Good idea, tell Zaeed what's going on" I said picking both mine and Jacks belongings.

I pick her up and run out of the classroom, my heart was pounding like crazy, I may not really like this girl but I don't want her dead, she is surprisingly light, probably not eating right, should tell this to Dr Chakwas. Whoa, now I'm starting to think like Dr Solus. I see Dr Chakwas room and begin to sprint at full speed.

I barge into the good doctor's room to earn shocked looks from the class. I can see Rylee sitting with Miranda, the doctor seemed to be explaining something to Liara when I barged in. I'm breathing pretty heavy considering I just ran through an entire block at full speed.

"She's… huh… not… she's not… breathing" I breathed out. Sweat was falling from my forehead, and my heart is racing. Rylee and Miranda walk up to me with concerned looks.

"What the hell just happened" Rylee questions, looking sympathetically at the biotic laying comatose

"I don't know she just passed out"

"Clear the table" she ordered and some of the students clear the table of their stuff, she runs up to me and I put Jack on the table

"Nathan how long ago did she pass out" she questioned in urgency

"A half hour ago" I responded

"Class dismissed" she ordered and everyone got out as quickly as possible.

Rylee POV

That wasn't very comforting in fact it was pretty disturbing, I haven't seen my brother that worried in years. He is pretty shook up and Miranda is too, hell even Thane was worried about Jack. They all had different looks in their eyes. Miranda had a look of worry and disdain, Nate told me she doesn't like Jack at all but the worry on her face was apparent, but when she looked at Nate her eyes softened even sparkled a little, I wonder if Nate realises that she likes him. Nate looked in shock and he was afraid, eye brows furrowed and he balled his hands together which he only does when he's worried, I noticed something else about him, his eyes dilated. Thane was showing signs of uneasiness which is weird because I was pretty sure he's a loner.

"Nate you alright" I ask my brother going up to see how he's doing

"I don't know why you're askin', I'm fine" he dismissed

"I know you Nate you were worried" he put his hand in front of my face to shut me up

"For once Ry when I say I'm fine believe me"

"I will when you're telling the truth"

"I AM FINE NOW DROP IT" he yelled out, the entire hallway turned to look at us.

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT" he once again yelled at everyone in the hallway, they all turned around trying to find something to do. Wow Nate really is both feared and loved.

"Relax"

"Shut it Rylee, and leave me ALONE, focus on your own problems instead of getting involved in my life" he said in an aggressive tone. That was my breaking point, he was getting upset over me trying to help him but he keeps on running his mouth so I slapped him clean across his face. He looked shocked for a second then his instincts kicked in, he put me up against the wall about to raise his fist, but I wasn't scared because I was as pissed as him. A hand suddenly appeared on his shoulder.

"Shepard, think carefully about what you're doing" it was Thane, to my surprise Nate didn't drop him or try to fight him, he looked like he was considering punching him but decided to take a few deep breaths and walked away.

"Are you alright Rylee" the drell assassin asked with a look of real concern

"I'm fine. Thanks for the help with my brother even though I didn't need it" I said

"Really from where I was standing you were defenceless" he asked

I stood back a little, folded my arms, looked up at him and raised my eyebrow. Does this guy really think I can't take care of myself?

"Think back to that moment Thane, if I wanted to I could have just given one good crotch shot and he would have been down for the count" I bragged.

"Really now, maybe I shouldn't have intervened" The drell said this time with an arrogant smirk, which is strangely sexy, is it me or is he flirting, I return the smirk with one of my own. He must have realised just what he said because his smirk faded and was replaced by a flustered look.

"I should check on your brother" he said turning around and walking away, what is it with me and people walking away when I show interest, am I unlikeable because I know I'm pretty enough guys have told me to believe it. Oh well I should probably head off to the library.

Nate POV

I swear to God I will get Rylee back for slapping me in public, I should have dropped that fucking Drell when I had the chance, I understand why someone would stop a guy from hitting a girl and I probably would've felt guilty about hurting Rylee. But man was she asking for it.

"Nate, I heard some bitch slapped you up" how the fuck has this spread so quickly, and now random jocks are making fun of me.

"Yeah she slapped you good" the another one added

"Yeah" the third one sounded like a follower and he then started laughing like Patrick star which is seriously pissing me off

"You are such a bitch, here I heard that you're some kind of tough guy" a fourth one joined in from the hallway.

"I wouldn't have that I would have shown her whose boss"

"I guess he's just not as tough as me"

"You should have iced the bitch"

"You got violated HAHAAHA"

That's it. I rub my eyes out of frustration and let out a snarl. "Run" I warn them but I just get confused looks. "Run fast…Run Far" that's the final warning before I drop all 7 of them.

"You think we're scared of you" I'll admit he did a good job of putting base behind his voice but his eyes gave away his fear. "There are more of us Shepard and we will…" I don't let him finish his rant and instead deck him on the jaw and he was out cold. The rest of them are in total shock, this guy was clearly their leader and I just one banged him. The few smart ones ran away but the stupid ones stay behind. About 10 on 1, this should be fun.

Reality isn't like the films or books, opponents don't come at you one after the other they swarm you all at once, not letting you breath. But I'm different. Not only am I physically stronger than all of them and technically a better fighter, I'm also a biotic. I push the majority of them into lockers, that should keep them busy for a bit.

Three of the others I didn't quite get to decides to charge at me at once, but being the dumbass jocks they are they all come from the same direction, all I had to do was physically push one into another and the one remaining went down after one good knee to the stomach.

The jackasses that got rammed into the lockers had just shaken off their disorientation and looked vexed. The seriousness of their faces, flaring nostrils, and one of the idiot's chubby cheeks turning red. I couldn't hold it in for two seconds I erupted with laughter. I kept going for about 20 seconds.

"HAHAHAHA, huh, huh, huh. You look. HAHAHA… you look like a pissed off hamster" I said in between breaths, pointing at the chubby kid and resumed my laughing fit but this time the spectators joined in.

They FINALLY get smart and try to get me whilst I'm laughing but I'm still too good, I create a mass effect field around the group and lifted them all in the air.

"I am in a really bad mood right now" I start knowing fully well that the lot of them just pissed themselves, "Now a group of pussies think they can beat me up" as I talk I start getting more and more pissed off. What the fuck were they thinking? "Don't worry, I won't kill you" I can see the look of relief on their faces. "But you're gonna wish you were dead" a sadistic smirk crosses my face, I won't torture them but the looks on their faces makes this totally worth it. Something in my peripheral vision caught my eye, it was Rylee, she looked horrified at what I was doing, she probably felt responsible for this whole situation, and she should!

"HEY LET'S GET HIM" another group shows up about 5 of them. They start running at me but out of nowhere one of them is on the floor. That drell from earlier had thrown him onto the floor and is holding his shoulder to the ground.

I swear to God it was like this guy was a ghost, no one could even get near him, even though these guys had no skill or finesse they still should have got some shots in, hell they tagged me a couple times, but every time a blow was about to land he would dodge it and push him into someone else. I can also see that he isn't trying to land any blows, he's trying to tire them out. That's just stupid! Why not just knock them out. So being the kind and compassionate guy I am I put the morons out of their misery with one small biotic shockwave. That drell was just dodging the attacks of 5 fairly strong humans and he didn't even break a sweat, how didn't I notice him last year.

"Thanks" I said walking up to shake his hand.

"You…You Bastard" the first guy I knocked out has decided now is a good time to wake up. "You'll be expelled for this, I'll make sure of it" was his pride so mortally wounded that he would resort to snitching. He looks around trying to find a teacher to tell on me, and it is taking a lot of restraint to not laugh my ass off again. From the look in his eyes he seems to have spotted one. How Fun.

"Hey, sir over here" he hollers to someone, I can't quite see who though, "Yeah over here" a smug smirk I want to wipe off of his face appears but just as I'm about to get one last shot in I get a look at the teacher. It's Wrex.

"This prick attacked me and my friends and used his biotics, he was trying to kill us" I hear a snort coming from beside me, Thane seems to find humour in his exaggeration

"I saw the whole thing" Wrex said, the way the guys face fell when he heard it was priceless

"And you didn't intervene"

"Why would I and miss a perfectly good fight" the Krogan said then let out a laugh

"Wasn't a fight Wrex, it was an ass kicking" I added, the kid looked confused so I decided to fill him in "My form tutor genius" this time it was my turn to smirk

"And you're gonna let this slide" the jock said in disbelief

"I don't see why not" Wrex replied as if it were obvious

"Look at what this guy has done, damage to school property, assault and battery, disturbing the peace" he listed off everything he sees.

"And I've never been so proud" the Krogan chuckled

"Look at the lockers" he is still trying, he's determined I'll give him that much

"Did he touch the lockers?" Wrex questioned

"What" the jock replied

"Did Shepard at any point come in contact with the lockers?"

"No but-"

"Then by my judgement he is in no way responsible for the damage, it's you and these Pyjacks fault" Wrex interrupted. This jock must seriously want me gone because he is still trying to get rid of me. He got this sadistic smile as if he's finally got me

"School rules say that assault is punishable by expulsion" he said

"Yeah, Yeah. Shepard, have anything to say about this?" Wrex said turning to me.

"I was… provoked" I answered in a hopeful tone

"Good enough for me as you were" the krogan battlemaster responded walking away, I turned and gave the jackass, dumb enough to instigate this and gave him one death glare, which was enough for him to run as far as he possibly could away from me. I turned to Thane.

"Thanks for the help Thane" I thanked the drell

"Not a problem" he replied

"We should probably get away from here" I suggested, I got a simple nod and he lead me to a tree outside the infirmary. I'm not all that good at thanking people for stopping me from doing something so showing appreciation for what happened with Rylee would be difficult, he must have noticed my troubles

"Is there something wrong Nathan"

"Thanks for stopping me I'm not sure if I would have forgiven myself for seriously hurting Rylee" I said very quickly looking away

"That is not a problem Nathan" he replied

"Please call me Nate"

"Very well Nate"

There aren't many people I respect, to the point where I am at amazement of them whether in combat or in general. Anderson, Garrus, Wrex, Samara, Zaeed, hell even Jack just for her biotics but you can put Thane on that list. What I saw was like nothing I'd ever seen, only guy I know anywhere near that good is Kai Leng, but I've beaten him before, I'm not sure if Thane is someone I could take on hand to hand.

"I noticed in that brawl that you never once struck out. Why was that?" I asked

"There wasn't a need to strike them, I knew they would tire themselves out and I wouldn't have to waste energy"

"So you were showing off" I accused with a smile

"I believe testing my abilities to be more fitting" he answered, I remember seeing Rylee in the crowd and realised that Thane was her guide.

"Showing off for my little sister Thane, cuz you know she has a thing for Garrus" I teased, instead of a response his face darkened and everything about him radiated sadness and depression.

"Who taught you to fight like that?" I asked hoping to take his mind off of the question my teasing

He took a deep breath. "My parents gave me to the Hanar as part of a compact when I was six, from then I lived with them for 7 years training my skills"

"Really… the jellyfish trained you" I chuckled a little, but the drell didn't seem to share my sense of humour.

"I had drell instructors, but they were trained by the Hanar" he replied

"Where can I sign up because if the Hanar train that well"

"It isn't something you 'sign up for' you must be chosen" he answered

"So you were raised in like a monastery" I inquired

"Yes but I am not a monk"

"Damn… from the age of six, must have been hard"

"Yes, even at a young age the training is quite rigorous, not many can handle it" he explained

"So you must be fairly strong willed"

"I was the best in my class"

"You know Thane you have this quite arrogance to you, you're so calm about it as if it's matter of fact" I stated but I was just greeted with a smirk

"I take pride in my ability Shepard, I see no need to downplay my skills" he responded. I've gotta say I like that attitude. Too many humans feel the need to downplay what they think of themselves to avoid looking vein and conceited. There was a silence after that, I took the opportunity to check out his appearance, he looks tired as if he wasn't sleeping, and he could still fight like that, he's better than I thought.

"I should go"

"Goodbye Nate"

Jack POV

What

What the fuck, where am I. Why is it so fucking hard to move? I sat up only to be completely pissed off. Dammit I'm on another operating table, but it ain't a proper one. Sure there's the uncomfortable leather and all those other attachments but I'm not strapped in, where do they get these.

"Hello Miss Nought" that voice sounds like an old lady. There is this old bitch sitting at a table, reading a pile of books, she looks friendly enough but that just means she's good at hiding her intentions.

"Where am I and who are you?" I demanded

"Don't get yourself worked up, you need to rest" she instructs, if I could move I would flip the bitch off of walk out of the room.

"Answer the questions" I demand once again only louder, but she doesn't crack, she remains perfectly calm and collected.

"I am Dr Karin Chakwas, Jack." She started, "I'm the one who woke you up" she sounds, well, unworried and confident and there is a mixture of relief and sadness. I looked around the room, this isn't Weapons, this is the infirmary. I recognise it from when the cheerleader skank was blown to bits and the dumbass visited her. Each room was impersonal and plain, yet looked classy at the same time, which I don't like. The old bitch looks slightly nervous, but not out of fear of me but fear of talking.

"Jack I need you to be perfectly honest with me" she said looking deep into my eyes.

"Tell me why your system was filled with Hallex, Red sand and Videlicet" She questioned "And not just filled, it was flooded to the point it would kill a small Krogan" she sounded concerned, but I couldn't tell her the truth, no one would believe me since Cerberus is seen as the greatest thing since Jesus.

"I use it" it wasn't a total lie, I do but that's not why I was like this.

"You may use it but the amount you had couldn't be consciously used, it had to be forced" she kept on urging me to say more but I refused to say, she carried on prying, trying to psyche me out but I wasn't having it.

"Fine, but Jack if you are in trouble talk to me, we can help" She said with a look of worry, I got out of bed and ran out of the room.

Why the fuck do people care about what I do? Why do people always want something from me? Why did that lady try to get me to open up? Can't the verse just fuck off so I can live in peace? Why did god put me in Cerberus hands? Why is it was me chosen to suffer. I know this, when I'm through with Cerberus I'm going to kill every scientist, every surgeon, and every operative, anyone with any ties to Cerberus for doing this to me. If they didn't fit me with that new L5X amp then I would probably be dead and I wouldn't be able to shake it off as easily as I am. You know what I'm gonna start today, with the person responsible for almost killing me.

But first I need to sleep. Let me run down where I can actually do this without someone ending up dead. The infirmary ain't an option since I'll just be interrogated again. Benches are just filled with people waiting to piss me off, so I probably have to go back under that tree. To be honest lunch is the one part of the day I don't mind, well besides advanced biotics, mainly because of Thane. He is the one person that doesn't pry, abuse or lie to me, he still pisses me off but I don't want to kill him. My brains still a little fuzzy so getting there should be hard. I proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes of my life staggering around the school only to find that the tree was just outside the infirmary. STUPID BITCH. How did I miss it?

Thane's already there and he looks like he's waiting for me. "Hey Scales" I called out, that was my new nickname for him since Thane sounds lame. He turned around and smiles a little, I sit down near him.

"Here" he offers handing me a few sandwiches, ever since the first day he's made it a habit to bring me lunch since I don't trust cafeterias but him I trust. He is probably my first friend since… since Murtock.

"Thanks" I took the sandwiches and we ate in comfortable silence

"Jack are you alright" He asks

"Of course I am" I answer, if you're smart Thane you will not mention what happened earlier

"If you are having any troubles, please do not hesitate to tell me, I will always be here to listen" wow the first person that understands that I don't want to talk. But I'll never take him up on that offer.

"Thanks" I said looking away, I can't believe I'm actually feeling good about someone offering 'help'. But I guess he made it so that I would have to ask, not that he would involve himself. Then something reminded me.

"Thane who took me from Weapons to the infirmary?"

"It was Nate Shepard" he answered. Wow even after all the constant name calling, insults and jabs at his abilities he still took me to the infirmary, maybe he drew the short straw.

"The concern for your safety was evident on his face" the assassin added. So he did it voluntarily. 'And he saved your life' a little voice in my head added, why doesn't it ever shut up for good. Ever since I could remember it has always been there telling me to do stuff I don't want, like don't take the Hallex, don't kill the merc, don't mouth off and more bullshit I ain't interested in. Every time I listen to it something bad happens, that voice cost me…. No can't think about that now. But it's right I can't ignore that if he hadn't taken me to that doctors office, I would probably be dead, I don't know whether to punch him or kill him. Speaking of kill I should probably find Aria.

Nate POV

I went to the canteen as I usually did. I ordered the same lunch, sat at the same table, with the same people who have caused me so much happiness, but I couldn't get into it. I can't believe it but I'm actually worried about Jack, she has been in my head since I left Thane at the tree. The image of her unmoving body still haunted my mind.

The canteen was segregated into various sections. I guess you could say cliques but not really. In my section it was mostly those with athletic ability and little else, but there were still those with above average intelligence like me. The guys I actually talked to were James, Grunt, Garrus, Nyreem Kandros and Rana Thanoptis and Jacob- even though he spends a lot of lunches with Miranda. The next section was Omega, in other words Aria's crew, I expected Jack to be there, and I haven't seen her with Aria outside of AB so she ain't part of her crew. If there is something I like about Aria is that she doesn't discriminate, Human, Batarian, Krogan, Turian, Asari, Drell, Elcor whatever species so long as you're useful you're excepted, Nyreem sometimes tags along but that's mostly because she is Aria's girlfriend. She has asked me and all of my friends to join more than once, we all respectfully declined. The next section was filled with the academics, the guys who are mostly the bookish sort, with a little physical ability, and some of the less social guys, I guess you could call them nerds or geeks. There was Kaidan, Tali, Kelly, Samantha, Kasumi and Liara, they were the only ones I actually knew and didn't mind. The rest of the school found themselves quiet spots to eat, some in groups but some loners like Thane, Miranda and apparently Jack.

"Shepard how's that tattooed chick" James asked disturbing me from my thoughts

"I don't know"

"Hope she's alright Loco"

"Yeah me too" I admitted

"Speaking of tattoos I heard about this new tattoo artist"

"Here it comes, what need money, blood?" I joked

"If this was about money I would be showering you with compliments" he stated, I gave him an agreeing nod.

"I just don't want to go alone" he pouted

"Why can't you go alone"

"It's in Omega" he said in a childish tone, what is with this dumbass attitude he's on

"Stop that it's… just creepy" I responds, but he kept on doing it and it was making me uncomfortable, that was Garrus and Rana's cue to laugh.

"Fine I'll go" I submitted, I heard the door open and turned to see Jack storming in, I let out a sigh of relief. At least she's alright. I don't get it how can one person entering the room improve my mood so much, all of a sudden I don't mind going with James. She catches sight of me, I'm expecting a growl and a toothy scowl however I got no such thing but instead a wink. That caught me seriously off guard. She marches up to Aria something I had never seen before, Aria responds in her casual arrogance, I can make out what they're saying from where I sat.

"Aria I need a favour"

"My, my Jack, pull up a seat. Friends are always welcome"

"We aren't friends Aria"

"That just hurts my feelings Jack" she said in a patronising tone

"I would kill you if I didn't need you" Jack threatened, her eyes became slits and her voice low

"You just weakened your position" the asari stated confidently

"Doesn't mean I won't, and find other ways to get what I want"

"You wouldn't, you're not that stupid"

"Fine, you're right but not in the open" Aria gave her a surprised look, I may not know that psychotic biotic that well but I can tell discretion isn't her thing, that would explain Aria's shocked look. They both got up and made their way elsewhere.

9:00 PM Omega

James must be a regular genius if he has to go to a tattoo artist this late in Omega, no wonder why he wanted me to come with him, in case he ran into trouble. I can't believe I'm still waiting for the guy, he asks for the favour and has the cheek to be late, why does he even need any more tattoos, and he must be trying something new.

"Nate over here" the Spaniard called out. I should kick his ass for being late, but then I would be a hypocrite he runs up to me panting.

"Sorry when I got home, I crashed the moment I hit the couch" that was his big excuse. He overslept at 9pm, now I really should kick his ass, my eyes flare out of anger

"Whoa sorry man, I'll make it up to you by-" he stops midsentence and his eyes grow wide in horror, I rotate my body and I witness something that chills me to the bone. Jack is standing over Dr Wilson, her form tutor with a shotgun aimed at his abdomen.

Jack POV

"I'm sorry Jack, it was an accident" the bald doctor begs

"Accident my ass, I told you I was feeling funny and you kept pumping" I argued, this prick tried to kill me, during training exercises I'm flooded with narcotics so that I associate killing with pleasure, which had worked wonders, but the levels in my body were too high to be a mistake, this rat bastard tried to kill me. If it weren't for my amp giving me high drug resistance I would have died hours before I woke up in the infirmary

"I was pushing your biotic limits" he defended

"You are doing a great job at pissing me off you know that" I erupted with anger. The worst part about Cerberus is that they hide bullshit behind a smile. They try to justify every action as the betterment of the human race or that sort of bullshit. Doesn't matter if a little girl is crying, begging for the pain to stop

"It was a mistake lack of sleep you know" he pleaded 'you should let him go, tell C-Sec of what he did' the voice in my head advised, this is why I don't listen, it always goes against my natural instincts, besides if I tell C-Sec his boss will probably bribe a few people and get him released. I kneel in front of him whilst aiming the shotgun at his head.

"If there is something you shitheads have taught me is" I start I moved my face next to his and saw the fear in his eyes, I drank it in and revel in it, the same warm feelings I get when the narcotics flood my veins made itself known and I chuckled at the irony of the situation. "When someone fucks with you always do the smart thing" I got up took a few steps back and fired it off 5 times, emptying the whole clip.

"Thanks for luring him here Aria, consider what you owe cleared" I said turning to see a smirking Asari and her trusted Batarian Bray.

"You of all people should know how much business Cerberus does with Omega" She stated

"I know" I answer, Bray is looking to the right and his body language changes, from relaxed to aggressive

"We have witnesses" he said taking out a pistol, I reloaded my shotgun and aimed it in the direction Bray was facing. "Come out where we can see you" he barked. Two figures came out of the shadows, revealing Nate and that James kid from Weapons.

James looks pretty serious which is a shock considering that every moment I remember of him he's joking and laughing, even he must understand the concept of death. Whereas Nate wore a sexy smirk and confident smile as if he is in total control of the situation

"So Jack killing really is a hobby isn't it" he accused still smiling

"Yeah and I'm considering doing it again"

"You couldn't kill me, even if I had one hand behind my back"

"Nathan that mouth will get you in trouble with the wrong people one day" Aria smiled

"Yeah when that happens let me know, did Wilson a lot of good"

"He screwed with me, he deserved to die keep that in mind" I'm warning this prick, fucking with me results in him dead.

"I heard what you talked about" Nate said "Sounds like our resident creep was up to some unsavoury shit. Never liked him much" I would have thought he would mind me killing people, maybe he's not such a boy scout after all.

"What are the two of you doing here anyway" Aria intervened

"I'm looking for this new tattoo artist in Omega apparently the guy is awesome. He did my cousins tattoo and it came out great" James explained with a smile

"Yeah about that James where is the parlour" Nate asked

"Follow me morons" I instructed, that earned me a glare from Nate.

"Why?" James asked

"Because I'm the tattoo artist dickhead" I laughed. On the side I decided to do some tattoo art, I mean how else do you think I got this many tattoos. I think ink is a way of showing who you are without words and in my case it's telling the world to go fuck itself.

"I'm not so sure about this anymore" James said in a nervous manor, did I actually scare him or was it the idea of me with a needle that struck fear into his heart.

"Quit being such a pussy and follow me" I ordered

"You heard the lady Vega" Nate said reinforcing my statement.


	5. Chapter 5

Later that night

Rylee POV

I feel really bad. Nate and I haven't even spoken since what happened at school. We've been in the same house for 5 hours and he hasn't said a word to me. I tried to apologise but he wouldn't listen, he just put his earphones in or went to another room. I replayed what happened in my mind and realised that I overreacted, the slap was unnecessary and it resulted in Nate going on a rampage. Every person who was hurt or injured in that confrontation is in their position because of me. Now my brother's got me worried, he left without saying a word to me about where he was going, as well as the fact he took his Carnifex.

"Rylee what's the matter" my mum had just entered my room, she could always sense when I wasn't in a good mood.

"Nothing important mum" I dismissed but Hannah Shepard isn't easily fooled

"What happened Rylee?" she interrogated

"Nothing happened!" I responded defensively. No.1 rule for all teenage siblings is that you never tell your parents anything about your siblings unless it's serious. Besides telling my mum would probably piss Nate off more than he already is at me.

"Tell your mother the truth Rylee" I hear a familiar voice, and from behind the wall Kahlee Sanders made an appearance or should I say my aunt. She's my mom's older sister. She's been there for us since dad died. Her name is Kahlee Anderson but she prefers to use her maiden name at school. Mainly because she doesn't want others to think she got to the position of Deputy Head of the school because of her relationship to Principal Anderson. And she doesn't want any of the questions that come with the information like people asking them about their love life or relationships, mainly from the other students. Very few people in the school also know about Nate's relationship to Anderson as an uncle otherwise parents will start to think that's why he's still a member of the school, especially after so many complaints, fights and incidents.

"Come on Rylee" she urged, but I remained silent. "Still fiercely loyal to your brother I see" she said with a hint of admiration in her tone. "Well. If you won't say anything I will".

"In school today Rylee and Nathan had a little confrontation" she began "Which resulted in Nathan pushing up against a wall and ready to punch her"

"Wait a minute I started it. I provoked Nate and he reacted you can't blame him for that" I defended my brother and speak of the devil here he is strolling in at 10:30. I can't see the door but it's DNA coded only me, Nate, mum and my aunt have access, he walks up the stairs face looking down, but there is a goofy grin on his face. Both my mum and aunt Kahlee cleared their throats in unison bringing him back to reality, he looked up still grinning until he sees the two women smirking cheekily at him.

"What's got you in such a good mood" my mum asked

"Nothing of your concern" he answered

"You guys never tell me anything anymore. I had to find out about Rylees crush on Garrus through Kahlee. Nate's fear of snakes through Miranda and now you two are causing trouble for each other at school" she accused, when she said school Nate looked at my with what I could only describe as anger, and it hurt. "You" he growled at me.

"It wasn't your sister Nathan it was me" Kahlee interrupted

"Why would you tell her" he asked with annoyance

"Because that is my job" she replied

"You could have talked to me first, why are you always a teacher before an aunt" he yelled and he got a punch to the face for his troubles, courtesy from my mother.

"Nathaniel John Eric Shepard, how dare you talk to your aunt that way" my mum yelled, if I thought Nate was angry, mum was furious. Her whole face contorted and her eyes went red, there was a vein popping out of her head, and feral growls were coming from her lips, Aunt Kahlee looked surprised at the violent outburst from mum. She was starting to cool down, indicated by her relaxing breathing pattern.

"Nate… Rylee has tried to take all the blame for the incident" she breathed out, my brothers was shocked, he then turned to me with a look of sorrow. "I also know that you never would have struck her" she further explained. "I don't even care about you hurting those boys, and believe me their parents have been ringing us all day wanting to either fight you or want you expelled" she chuckled. "What I'm pissed off about is how the two of you handled the situation, fair enough a few hours to cool down and think. Rylee thought it through, but clearly you didn't considering you've wanted nothing to do with her from the moment you both got home. Then you have the nerve to take your anger out at someone who cares as much about both of you as I do" she explained. She took a deep breath. "I want you to think about what happened and talk to Rylee tomorrow but for now both of you bed" she stated walking my aunt to the door.

Nate still looked pissed about being punched yet his features slowly softened. He walked out of my room into his and closed the door.

Nate POV

**The Next Day**

Ah crap I'm late again. I ran out of the shower into my room, to get dressed. But first I put on my rosary, kiss it and place it on the tattoo near my heart. **_I will always love you._** I've had that tattoo since I was 14 and I've done this very ritual every day since. I put on my usual attire and walked out of my room. I saw Rylee just coming out of the shower.

"Hey Rylee" I call out, she turns around wearing nothing but a towel

"I'm S-uh rr" I coughed out

"What was that?" she asked

"I'm Suhgh ry" I cough out again and she cocks her eyebrow

"I'm sorry for how I acted"

"Wasn't your fault, I'm sorry I couldn't drop the issue" she apologised. You know how when two friends apologise to each other and there's that awkward silence, it's exactly like that right now.

"Now the awkward silence is out of the way I'm gonna wait for Garrus at the normal place, meet us there" I inform her.

I ran downstairs to find Garrus with Tali talking in my living room. Tali. Tali. Why is she in my house and better yet why Garrus would bring her here? And why is Garrus here in the first place.

"What's going on Vakarian" I inquired

"What you think I'm gonna wait out in the cold for your sorry ass" he quipped

"Not what I'm talking about Garrus" I said looking at Tali. I don't like people knowing where I live, only a few people actually know I live here and I have told those who do know that they aren't to tell anyone.

"Oh you mean Tali" he answered, the quarian started squirming a little out of nervousness. "Shepard you know she lives a few minutes away from you right". What?

"I figured since she lives near you, you wouldn't mind"

"I'm sorry for causing any trouble Nate, I'll leave now if that's what you want" she said getting up. Man she's actually gonna wait out in the cold just because of my privacy needs. I can tell she's a good honest person, that's truly rare and I won't be an ass about it. But that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun with Garrus.

"Yes it is actually" I tell her with a scowl, Garrus looked at me in disbelief.

"You're kidding me right"

"No you knew my rule and now she has to pay for it"

"You can't be serious" the Turian sniper shouted

"Of course not what do you take me for" I chuckled "Sorry about that Tali, we can leave now" I said "but can you not tell anyone about where I live" I asked her and got a nod. "Thanks".

"Hey Rylee come on we're late" I warn my sister. She ran downstairs hair still messy from the shower

"I need a few minutes for my hair" she complains, only then does she realise that Garrus and Tali are in the room. Her face gets flushed then she runs up stairs in embarrassment.

"I've never noticed it before but Rylee is very beautiful Nate" Tali complimented

"Really? And here I thought Nate was the pretty one" Garrus said sardonically

"More brilliantly handsome than pretty" I add truthfully

"I never noticed" Tali adds

"What. I'm sensitive, handsome and a good listener what more could you ever want" I joked, well not really. Tali started giggling while Garrus shook his head.

"Add delusional" Rylee commented walking downstairs, Garrus and Tali both started laughing. We walked out of my house to school.

On the hyper train there were a lot of people headed for school, for once I was actually gonna be early. I saw Kaidan and Liara standing next to each other. Kaidan then turned his attention in our direction.

When we were younger Kaidan was one of my closest friends, he was close to Garrus too. Our moms are great friends and even work together. We usually hung out and even went to the same Commando training in the summer but he was part of BAaT while I was part of the Ascension. We stopped talking when we were 14 and haven't said more than a few words with each other since. I thought he was looking at me. However he wasn't looking at me he was gazing at Rylee, who was ogling at Garrus. Both he and Liara then started walking towards us.

Tali gave them both a wave. "I just remembered, Rylee" Tali said turning to Rylee who was ogling at Garrus, who was too dense to notice but instead was talking to me. How doesn't he notice, he's looking right at her and she's behind me.

"Dr Chakwas isn't our form tutor anymore" the engineer informed.

"What? Why?" Rylee responded in surprise

"You know that Dr Michel was pregnant" she began

"Turns out the baby came early. She gave birth yesterday at Huerta Memorial and Dr Chakwas is the new school Doctor" Tali explained

"Boy or girl" Rylee asked enthusiastically

"What's the child's name" Liara quickly added

"It's a girl, she named her Chelsea" Tali squealed, she started tapping away at her omni-tool "She put her picture up on the school website"

"Awwwwww" the three girls fawned. What is up with girls and their obsession with babies, I mean fair enough the kid is pretty cute but you don't see me, Garrus or Kaidan making such a big deal out of it "She is so cute" Kaidan commented. Well me and Garrus. I guess Kaidan is still the same emotional guy.

"I know" Rylee agreed giving Kaidan a happy look to which the latter blushed.

"Wait a minute" I interrupted just realizing something "if I had gone to her office yesterday, instead of Dr Chakwas room, then Jack would have died" I remarked suddenly becoming aware as to just how lucky I was to make that choice.

"Well, well Mr Kill Joy strikes again" Garrus interjected. I gave him a good natured glare to which he laughed.

"If Dr Chakwas is the new nurse then who's the new Biology teacher?" Rylee questioned looking towards Liara

"It's Dr Solus" the asari maiden answered

"The motormouth, good luck that guy never takes a breath" I informed Rylee, Kaidan, Liara and Garrus all started laughing since we were the only ones that actually knew him

"So he's our new form tutor" Tali asked

"No, our new form tutor is Matriarch Benezia" Kaidan explained, I turned to Liara to see her reaction and she gave nothing away through facial expression or body language. I may not know her that well but I can tell that she and her mother aren't an entirely happy family.

"Does that mean our form room has changed" Rylee asked

"Yeah we've gotta go to the Academic wing" Kaidan explained. The rest of the ride was uneventful at best but at least I got to talk to an old friend.

Rylee POV

Me, Tali and Kaidan walked towards our new form room, me and Tali were talking about Dr Michels new born child while Kaidan remained silent, but every once in a while I caught him taking a sideways glance at me. On the last time I caught him I gave him a flirty wink, a blush stained his cheeks and he turned away looking so shy it was adorable. I have to admit he's pretty cute but, I don't know it's just something about him that tells me it wouldn't last. When we reached our destination we discovered we were the first ones here, I'm not surprised if it hadn't been for Tali I would be waiting outside of Dr Chakwas' room. Inside was a beautiful Asari, she looked aged but not wrinkly, she had this warm aura surrounding her, and her posture was like that of royalty.

"Hello" she greeted, her voice laced with wisdom

"H-Hi" Kaidan stuttered, I guess all guys do like Asari especially one in a pinstripe dress that shows off her curves and cleavage

"Please take a seat" she asked and we complied

"h-Hi" I teased Kaidan

"What, I got nervous" he defended

"What got you so flustered Alenko" Tali teased, Kaidan looks like he's thinking really hard about this, and since he's the only guy here he better be careful about how he answers

"It was her eyes" the biotic lied, with what he probably thought was a convincing facial expression

"Really?" I questioned

"Yeah. They were so deep and mysterious, staring right at my soul" Kaidan described, I swear to god he almost sounds like he believes what he's saying

"Her dress too" He added. That much I can believe.

"The material looks so soft and the designs are so simple but elegant" He said. He keeps adding more shit to his defence, and I can't help but giggle at how serious he sounds.

"What colour is her dress Kaidan" Tali asked out of the blue.

"What?" he quickly responded out of shock

"Yeah Mr Alenko, what colour is her dress, and her eyes for that matter" I asked, I've got him cornered this time.

"Well her eyes are a pale blue" he answers, damn that was a stupid question, all asari have blue eyes anyway.

"And her dress" Tali asked

"Well…" he's trying to buy time, "It's red" he guessed

"Close it's black" Tali retorted, I burst into a fit of laughter, just how bad is his memory. Then again most of the human guys I know have terrible memories unless in combat.

We carried on teasing Kaidan for a few minutes when someone surprised us by walking in. It was the bald biotic Jack, she walked straight past Benezia and sat in the far corner of the room, she reeked of medi-gel. We all turned to look at her. I noticed that she looked tired, and that she was wearing a Cerberus jacket instead of her usual body warmer as well as the fact that she winced a bit when she her arm hit the table.

The class slowly filled up, looks like people have finally decided to either go to reception or look at the school extranet site. Jacob, Kasumi, Kelly and Samantha all walked in together, each of them simultaneously noticed Jack sitting in the corner then all did the smart thing and sat down. Everyone was giving her a wide birth. There were also a few new people in our class like that Turian from my Infiltrator training, this salarian from my biology class Maelon and Khalisah.

"Hello class I am Matriarch Benezia T'Soni" she announced getting the classes attention. I scanned the room and saw exactly what I expected just about every male was gawking at Benezia, undressing her with their eyes, the only ones not staring was the aforementioned Turian and Kaidan who instead was looking at me.

"I'm sure you've noticed that you're forms have changed"

"This is because last night Dr Wilson was murdered" she explained, this awarded her some shrill shrieks, shocked gasps and profanity. My heart actually stopped for a second, the idea that someone in my proximity was actually murdered sent a chill down my spine, I hope that they catch the guy responsible. I scoped out the room and saw everyone in shock but Jack, who had a ghost of a smile on her face, it made me sick, there are very few reasons as to why we should be happy about someone dying.

"So his form has been re-allocated around the school" she clarified. The rest of form time was rather mundane.

Lunchtime

I can barely move right now. Anderson is a freaking slave driver. I just had soldier training which almost everyone has, so it's me, Nate, Garrus, Kaidan, James, Grunt, Jacob and Javik. There weren't a lot of females in this class, just me, Aria, Nyreem, Jedore and Maya Brooks. I didn't really know anyone else there.

The silver skinned Turian who's also in my class began walking towards me, he held a look of disgust on his face as me inched closer yet just before he spoke he smiles.

"That was some impressive work Rylee" he complimented

"Thank you…" I asked hinting for a name

"Saren Arterius" he introduced, but from the sound of his voice and the look on his face I got this really bad vibe from him, something inside my head was screaming for me to get away from him. He bent down a little and put his mouth near my ear

"Your fitness is impressive, the best I have seen from any human" he said

"Thanks, you too" he replied, he went to hug me, must be a friendly guy.

I felt the ridges on his face brush up against my skin. They were crocodilian, scaly, and felt as though a snake was slithering on my skin. He looked up and backed away.

"Nathan how good of you to join us" Saren patronised

"Get away from my sister. NOW" Nate ordered, there was this venom in his voice I had never heard before. "Rylee get over here" he commanded and He gave Saren a glare filled with pure, unmitigated fury and hatred. The only things stopping him from acting were Garrus and Kaidan, both blocking his path to stop him from doing something stupid.

"Why so hostile Nathan we were just talking?" the Turian faked offense only aggravating my brother further to which he threw his hands in the air out of surrender and strolled confidently out of the room. Nate stood next to me

"Stay away from that bastard" he ordered darkly

"I can't, he's in my form" I retorted

"I don't care stay away from him" he persisted

"Why should I" I asked, who the hell does he think he is to be ordering me to not do something

"Rylee I would listen to your brother" Garrus advised with a look of disgust, what the hell did this Saren guy do to piss them off so much.

"Rylee I know we might sound unreasonable but you have to believe us stay away from Saren" Kaidan pleaded. I understand Nate and Garrus getting along, but as far as I remember Nate and Kaidan haven't been talking for about 3 years. I scoffed and walked away.

Nate POV

I am gonna kill that Turian bastard if he so much as looks at Rylee the wrong way, especially after what he's done. And the girl has the nerve to get pissed off at me for warning her to stay away from a bad guy. The fact that I, Garrus and KAIDAN all warned her should be enough for her to get just how serious we are.

I really don't want to be in the middle of a crowd right now, because I'm not sure if I can contain myself, and all the noise will set me off. I need a little time to cool down before going to Biotics. I should probably look for someone I can stand but would respect my silence since there aren't any empty places without students in the school aside from classrooms. Thane, I should look for the drell at least then I have the option of having a conversation.

I went over to the tree where I last saw the drell only to find it was empty, which in honesty was really perfect so I took the opportunity to lay under the shade. I closed my eyes preparing to fall into a deep sleep, in order to take my mind off of Saren. After about 10 minutes of sleep. Thud.

Something had just landed next to my head, I turned to see a bag, looking up to see who the owner was I see it's Jack. Staring at me confusedly, she cocks her eyebrow.

"Why are you here" I asked annoyed

"I should be asking you that since I've eaten here every day since I got here" she spat

"What, Thane eats here" I stated

"Yeah and I've eaten with him every day" she said grinding her teeth together

This was frustrating, I'm not moving, I don't give a shit what she does or says, I am sleeping on this spot.

"What are you waiting for dumbass? Scram" she ordered gesturing for me to leave, but I don't take orders from anyone but Anderson, I stood to my full height defiantly. From what I can tell she's about 5'6 whereas I'm 6'2 so I towered over her.

"No" I announced defiantly, she then tried to punch me but I easily caught it and gave her hand a little squeeze to discourage her from moving, but I guess I don't know my own strength since her face contorts from hurt and she lets out a slight squeal. I let it go and she retreats a little like a scolded dog.

"Oh Crap" I cursed I walked up to Jack who swung at me which I blocked as gently as I could so I could see if I broke her wrist, but I'm positive I never used enough force to break anyone's wrist. When I got hold of her arm I pushed her jacket up her sleeve. To my shock her arm is littered with bruises, holes and cuts, and her wrist had a deep imprint of a strap. I know she had psychology since she's in Miranda's class so these couldn't possibly be from school and she was fine yesterday night when she showed me and James her tattoos. These had to be recent and by that I mean from about 11 last night to 8:30 this morning.

Someone did this to her or their self-inflicted, but that doesn't explain the imprint. I give her a sympathetic look and for my troubles I get a slight biotic shove to the ground, she sat on my chest and with her other arm she prepares to punch me or kill me with her biotics.

"I should kill you right now" she threatened, I know fully well what she's capable of after last night

"You're not stupid enough to kill me right here too many witnesses and you wouldn't make it to the front gate without ending up dead" I explained calmly which I could tell was aggravating her to no end. I may have pointed out she couldn't kill me but I never said she couldn't kick the crap outta me. She proceeded to really lay into me, her punches didn't really hurt but the ones she reinforced with biotics could have broken my Jaw. I decided enough was enough so I lifted her up in the air with my biotics.

"Look Jack I'm Sorry" that is a collector's item, me apologizing and meaning it. I kept her suspended in the air because, well I'm not stupid

"But you tried to hit me and I retaliated" I defended

"If you don't let me down, I will kill you and it won't be in school" she hissed

"Relax I'll let you down" I let her down but sent her a few meters back to be on the safe side, she then stormed up to me and we were once again at stand-off.

"Jack there are 45 minutes left of lunch" I started taking a deep breath, "But all I want to do is sleep, not disturb whatever lunchtime rituals or plans you have" I continued "So if I stay sleeping can I count on you not to kill me" I finished rather hopefully.

"Fine" she breathed out, turning around to look the other way. I took this as my opportunity to doze off.

_20 Minutes Later_

I'm awoken by a surge of giggles and chatter, I check my omni-tool and find out that it's only been 20 minutes but I feel great. I turn to the source of the giggles. It's a group of girls of various races, Asari, Human, Quarian even Turian all shyly staring at me. Here it goes again. This has been a problem for a while. Since humans are relatively new to the galaxy we are sort of uncharted territory to a lot of races. Since last year me, Kaidan, Miranda, James and Jacob have had a string of people fawning over us. And it seems with every new batch of students brings more of our 'fans' as Garrus so cheerfully put it.

"Um Hi" one of the Humans asked, she looked familiar, probably hear last year. "Hello" I responded

"I'm Khalisah" she introduced nervously

"I'm Nate" I chuckled, I have to admit it does boost my ego when people are in awe of me

"Yeah I know…. Can we sit here" she asked. I skimmed the area around me to see if Jack had left, not seeing anyone around but her bag remaining probably meant she'd be back. "I'm not sure if you c…" "Okay" she interrupted before I could answer and all her friends took this as a queue to sit with me. The others I'd never seen before.

"I'm Leira" the Turian said, she had a light red skin tone with and intricate black face paint design

"I'm Nassana" one of the asari said with a wicked smile

"I'm Dahlia" The other asari introduced, from their similar looks I could tell they were sisters

"I'm Emily" the Asian human introduced

"I'm Athenril" the quarian introduced

After the introduction was out of the way the shameless flirting began, each of them trying harder than they should, I would just leave but they'd follow me and telling them to fuck off would probably result in a screaming match and that would not do me any good considering I'm finally in a good mood. The only one that wasn't just throwing themselves at me was Emily. I looked past the girls and noticed that Jack had returned but kept her distance. A sadistic smile crossed her lips since she clearly sensed my discomfort and annoyance, she just sat back enjoying show, when I gave her a pleading look she started laughing, even still she girls were so focused on me they didn't hear her. I reached over to her bag and held it. Her smile didn't fade but instead she walked over to us.

"Having fun Nate" she joked giving me a smirk that made my heart race a little. I said nothing and gave her an amused look. "All of you Fuck off" she ordered turning to the girls

"What did you say" Khalisah spat standing up to Jack. Bad idea

"You're in my spot" Jack announced, but Khalisah didn't look afraid

"In 3 seconds you will all be in the air and smears on the ground" Jack threatened

"I would listen to her" I advised "Look at my lip, she did this" I told them pointing to the cut at the corner of my lip.

"I'm not scared of…" Khalisah began only for Jack to throw her back a few feet, when she got up the others took it as a queue to retreat.

"Thanks" I appreciated

"Yeah, Yeah" she dismissed

"So how come you didn't just fuck one of them and get it over with" she smirked

"Not my type" I said darkly, this isn't a topic I want to talk about it

"What, are you a virgin or something?" she accused laughing

"No. I'm Not" I admitted

"Are you and the cheerleader fuck buddies?" she accused this time with a scowl

"Jack Shut UP" I yelled

"What it's just sex" she dismissed

"And this isn't a subject I want to talk about" I informed her, hoping she would take the hint

"Alright, big bitch" I'm starting to wonder what in the hell made me so compelled to save her life yesterday. She was fidgeting as if there was something she wanted to say or do

Then she did something I didn't think she would ever do, she pulled me down and forced her lips onto mine violently. It was quick and I wasn't really prepared for it, however it still left me in shock

"Don't read too much into it, that's a reward for yesterday" she said with her back turned, even though it was brief the taste of her lips lingered, it tasted of chocolate.

"But I still owe ya" she said as she walked away. I was still in shock of what she'd just done. I haven't kissed anyone in years. I've had sex but not voluntarily kissed a girl for years. I've had better but for some reason I couldn't get it out of my head.

I don't know what it is about this girl but she is getting in my thoughts more and more often, but not like I'm constantly thinking about her, I'm not obsessed with her or anything. But I guess I want to know her, more than any sane person would want to. That's when my mind wondered to her wounds. They weren't pretty, and they were bad. As bad as they were what sent a chill down my spine was the imprints on her wrists. She's been strapped down to something or cuffed or her hands have been binded, whoever did this did it tight judging by how deep the lines were. Either she is in to some freaky ass shit or she's abused. I am hoping for the first.

_After School 19:00_

I was so bored when I got home, I got given some assignments about researching how to better improve my biotic control, but my control is near perfect, at my level practice is the only thing that can improve my skills. So I decided to head over to C-Sec Academy to hang out with Garrus. I got dressed in a black coat, jeans, white shirt and combat boots. I was about to get in the elevator to the wards when I saw Jack. She was down the steps from the presidium instead of taking the elevator and really slowly for that matter. I remembered the fresh scars and bruises on her arms and felt a need to see how she got him so I followed her.

I guess this would constitute as stalking but it's really just concern on behalf of a friend, and surprisingly that's the truth, I am actually curious to see what she does or what's been done to her. She makes her way to Access elevator that leads to Cerberus HQ. I've been there before when they tried to recruit me, that's where I met Miri and Jacob. I would have joined but Anderson advised against it, I'm not naïve I know that no one is a perfect saint, the Alliance and Cerberus are obviously involved in some dirty business but he said Cerberus is into some real messed up shit.

After she went down I followed in the next elevator, I'm not sure what to expect, maybe a home barely standing, reeking of weed, piss and alcohol, swearing and shrieks emanating from the house.

When I got out of the lift I was blasted into the wall, unfortunately for me this wall is above an electric eel pond so a fall could end badly for me. Apparently I'm not as sly as I thought and Jack picked up on the fact I was tailing her, her expression was blank but her brow was cocked in confusion.

"The fuck are you doing" she interrogated, I have to be really careful right now, if I'm stupid I could be in for a painful night, morning, week or however long it takes to heal, if I'm smart she throws me on to the pavement

"I'm here to see Miranda" I lied, I hope she buys it

"You want to see the cheerleader" she spat, okay that was stupid, I forgot how much they hate each other.

"Yeah I wanna hang out with her" I said

She tensed up for a second and I braced for impact however she lifted me to the pavement. I was surprised that she wouldn't drop me into the drink.

"Follow me" she instructed as she walked away. I followed suit checking out her ass, it is out of this damned galaxy, thank the lord she always wears tight bottoms. The Cerberus level of the Presidium looked like any other except adorned with Cerberus insignia and had no aliens at all, just humans and life natural to Earth like pigeons, pigeon shit, squirrels, moles even some monkey's, it was really nostalgic since I was born on Earth.

Jack led me to this mansion, which is probably where Miranda lived, but Jack's DNA was keyed into the gate. This is Jack's house. This place was damn sight better than mine. It's an old design probably from a hundred years ago, but that's probably what made it so nice, the design is 100% human no alien help or guidance, looks like it has 4 floors and at least 5 times as many rooms. Wow my initial thoughts on her home was blown out of the water, but to produce someone like Jack this house must be worse inside. When we went inside Jack told me to wait in the living room, we had to walk through various rooms to get here, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get out on my own.

In the living room there were various pictures of. Well Miranda, her school photo, ID picture and another little girl that looked like Miranda. In all of the pictures of Miranda, none of them is she smiling, laughing or even playful, they're all business. There weren't any pictures of Jack whatsoever.

"Who are you" I turned around and the little girl from the pictures was standing behind me.

"I'm Nate"

"I'm Oriana"

"How old are you Oriana"

"I'm 7"

"So you're a little girl"

"No I'm a big girl"

"Really prove it"

"I don't watch Peppa Pig anymore I watch Power Rangers now"

I had to chuckle a little at her innocence it was refreshing considering how much violence and destruction I see even if its simulated.

"Hey Jackie" Oriana greeted the biotic, she was now wearing a tank top, fingerless gloves and tight blue jeans

"Hey Kid scram" Jack ordered not even looking at Oriana but the kid just stuck her tongue out at Jack and ran out of the room and Jack actually smiled.

"**You** live here?"

"What's that meant to mean"

"Nothing, just never thought you and Miri could live together"

"I'm not happy about it either"

"This why you two don't get along, a sister thing"

"No we're not sisters and that's all you need to know". Family is obviously a sensitive topic for her

"How did you get those scars and bruises?" I finally asked, she instinctively held her hand and they wandered to her neck

"None of your FUCKING BUSINESS" she shrieked, only this time instead of anger her face contorted with pain and fear, as if someone has just woken up from a nightmare. She was about to run out of the room when a man stopped her as he walked in. he looked like Miranda so I'm guessing it's her father, his eyes were cold and uncaring glaring at Jack.

"Zero" he greeted with no emotion. Jack didn't reply but just sent him waves of hate through her eyes. The man then turned his attention to me and raised an eyebrow, a smirk crossed his lips.

"Zero report to Sigma level for training" he ordered "Our guest can let himself out" he said walking out of the room. Jack let out a frustrated roar and struck the wall of the mansion. "LEAVE NOW" she growled stomping out of the room.

I wondered around the house since I had no idea as to where to go, there were so many doors and rooms, how the hell does Oriana get around this place, she's only 7. I figure I should probably find a window outside and walk to where we walked in. in my quest to find a window I discovered a room which had scratches that spelt stay out and the door is made of metal so it was even more impressive. So obviously I had to walk in, it was beckoning me to. I tried walking in but it locked me out, there was a holo asking if I was sure I wanted to walk in and I said yes.

This room looked more like a big prison cell rather than a teenager's room, unlike the others the walls were made from cinderblock and the floor concrete, the bed looked uncomfortable as all hell and the lights were cracked. There was this dull grey desk littered with paper and school books, the desk itself had spots of blood on it but in contrast it smelt like lavender soap. I approached the desk and saw the name on the books, as I feared this is Jacks room. And I doubt that it's her choice. One of the books had the initials J.R. I opened the book and found a litany of poems, each conveying so much pain and anguish. 1 stuck out in particular.

**_My soul _**

**_Burns _**

**_With a fire of darkness _**

**_Quenched only in the pain _**

**_Of loneliness _**

**_I hold my breath waiting _**

**_Until spots appear black as the past _**

**_And fill my lungs up with lies of hope _**

**_I mark myself _**

**_Black and jagged _**

**_To cover the scars _**

**_That make me a monster _**

**_A warning _**

**_This is not a place of honor _**

**_No esteemed dead are buried here _**

It doesn't sound like much of a poem, doesn't rhyme or anything but even I could tell that this was honest and true. My first real insight into the psyche of Jack and it is disturbing. This girl is damaged beyond anything I have ever seen, her attitude, tattoos, scars, hair, mannerisms and now her poems. She is emotionally crippled but she keeps it all inside. I found myself developing a deep respect for the biotic on a personal level because of how strong she is even after what abuses she's suffered but I also began to worry, no matter how strong someone is everyone has a breaking point and she may be nearing hers. I flip through the book reading more and more poems.

Jack has a sensitive side to her. Who knew? I mean she constantly tells people to fuck off and her personal space is a mile radius but I think that's just to stop people from getting too close. And now I want to get close enough to find out why. Any sane person would say it ain't worth it but there's something about her that makes me want to know her

I walked out hoping to God that Jack wasn't coming and for once I'm actually lucky, no one is in the hallway, I walk back the way I came and Miranda is walking digging into her bag so she hadn't seen me, she was about to bump into me until I cleared my throat.

"What the hell do you want J-" she groaned looking up then jumped back a little when she saw it was me.

"Nate" she said in disbelief, she took a defensive stance "Is this some sort of trick" she barked, is it so unbelievable that I'm here

"Miri it's me" I responded

"Prove it" she ordered

"Last week in the advanced biotics we were in Omega and you tripped and landed in a puddlel of-" I began

"Stop, Stop, Stop I believe you" she yelled in embarrassment, she fell in a puddle of krogan piss and threw up.

She began to blush uncontrollably and fidget. Probably because she was about to attack me

"No need to be embarrassed you couldn't have hurt me anyway" I teased but I apparently misread the situation and her face showed shock, hurt and anger, she spent the next two minutes yelling at me about how much of an asshole I was and how blind guys could be. After her tirade she mellowed out and asked an obvious question.

"Why are you here?"

"I was bored and wanted to hang out with someone but everyone else was busy" I explained, well almost everyone is busy

"Nate you shouldn't be here otherwise-" she said not wanting to finish her sentence

"I know Jack lives here" I admitted

"Oh"

"I don't know why it's a secret"

"Its' complicated" that's code for fuck off

"I would love to talk Nate but I'm very busy"

"Yeah you're dad told me to leave and I got lost"

She sighed "I'll lead you out"

"Bye Nate" Oriana yelled from her room obviously eavesdropping

"Stop listening in ORI" Miranda shouted

Miranda led me away in silence never able to meet me in the eyes until we reached the door.

"See you tomorrow" Miranda departed the door closing behind her.

I just got an inside look at the girl who has been in my head for the past few days and just discovered that Miranda and Jack hate each other because they live together and that I should really think before I act.


End file.
